Lady on a Train (1945)

. . . with THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN (the 2016 Emily Blunt flick based upon Paula Hawkins' 2015 novel), since I'm the only person that they know who has seen both movies. Most of my circle assumes that the show that they've actually watched--GIRL--is far more violent than LADY ON A TRAIN, since GIRL is more recent and people are getting offed with rocks and corkscrews during its story. However, LADY does not restrict itself to just polite Edwardian stranglings and Rat-a-Tat-Tat firearm slayings. During LADY a crowbar also gets a homicidal star turn. And while GIRL has two or three "red herring" candidates for the so-called "Real Killer" witnessed by a female train passenger (Blunt's Rachel), LADY's "Nikki" (Deanna Durbin) has at least FOUR bogus murder suspects to muddle her ability to finger the killer she window-peeped from HER Choo-Choo. LADY's perky heiress Nikki certainly seems to have a leg up on the depressed divorcee "Rachel" of GIRL (especially when it comes to singing talent). Though some may wince at GIRL's title, and find it demeaning if not misogynistic, LADY includes a racist reference to a person of Japanese Origin just 10 minutes or so into its convoluted tale. This, however, should be blamed upon what was then known as the U.S. Department of War, which legally forced ALL American movie studios to include such "morale-boosting" language in each and every American flick of the World War Two Era.

Deanna Durbin (Nikki) is an avid murder mystery fan. She reads all the books and her favourite author of the moment is David Bruce (Wayne). While riding on a train and engrossed in yet another murder story, she witnesses an actual murder as her train passes by an apartment. On arriving at the station, she goes to report it but the police dismiss her. She seeks out Bruce, and together they embark upon solving the case.It's a film that promises more than it delivers given the cast. It's too complicated at times as there are too many characters and the film is completely unbelievable. You definitely have to suspend belief which ruins things for me. No way would any of this happen. Still, Durbin is OK as she leads us through things and we get a twist at the end. It's all done as a comedy which is a pity. It could have been a more powerful effort if played straight. And I regret to say that Durbin sings 3 songs – atrociously, of course.It's OK if a little disappointing. Not as good as her comedies with Charles Laughton – "It Started With Eve" (1941) and "Because of Him" (1946) or her film noir effort "Christmas Holiday" (1944) in which she actually sings a good song! She's likable in this but you can skip it. And Edward Everett Horton's schtick really drags.

Lady on a Train offers a change of pace for actress Deanna Durbin. A mystery story played with adequate elements of comedy, suspense and music. Miss Durbin plays a small-town girl visiting New York and as her train pulls into the station, looking out of her window she witnesses a man being bludgeoned. The police are notified but dismiss her story as the product of an overactive imagination. Amazingly she is able to acquire the help of a mystery writer ( David Bruce ) who helps her piece together the complicated facts of the mysterious murder. When this picture was made film noir was in full swing, and this story cleverly uses a screwball comedy approach that is most suitable for the lovely, young Deanna Durbin. The story of course allows the star most popular for her amazing singing ability to delight audiences with the songs " Silent Night " and a most sultry rendition of " Night and Day." There is also a good amount of suspense focused on the shady murder mystery, which involves a series of strange suspects and some very interesting ulterior motives. The film has an impressive assortment of actors of the time including, Ralph Bellamy, Dan Duryea, Edward Everett Horton, Allen Jenkins, Patricia Morison, and William Frawley all help to keep the story moving at a good pace. Although the film seems dated now, it's still worth a curious look at the talented Deanna Durbin who charms with a very sexy close-up to end the film.

Lady On A Train represents Universal Studios trying to transition Deanna Durbin into more adult roles. Although the film has its fun moments in the comedy department, Deanna is essentially still playing her goody two shoes teenage self. As this involves a mystery, this could have been the plot of a Nancy Drew story.As the New York Central is going down Manhattan's spine taking Deanna on the last leg of her cross country journey she spots what she thinks is a murder in one of the passing apartments. That would be enough to upset anyone, but Deanna is a girl who loves mysteries, we see her reading one on the train. As she's a bit of madcap she has trouble getting police desk sergeant William Frawley to take her seriously.After she sees a newsreel and recognizes the victim as a millionaire who was reported to have died at his Long Island mansion, Durbin interjects herself into that family. The victim disinherited his relatives Elizabeth Patterson, Dan Duryea, and Ralph Bellamy and left his estate to nightclub singer Maria Palmer.Deanna just gets deeper and deeper until she solves the mystery. As for the culprit, given casting stereotypes a real big red herring is tossed at the audience. But she's as determined as Nancy Drew to get to the bottom of things. Some nice standards are given Durbin to sing, Night And Day and Silent Night is sung because the story does take place at Christmas time. Lady On A Train should please the still strong legion of Durbin fans.