Customer Reviews

Lady On A Train [VHS]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I loved this movie. You'll never guess who the murderer is.The songs are great too.I was singing them for days afterwards.I beleive this is a video you'll want to own.I think if you like this one you'll also like "It started with Eve" also with Deanna Durbin.

This film is a Christmas snowflake from the wonderful Deanna Durbin. She may have saved Universal from bankruptcy as a young musical sensation in the late 1930's, but by the mid 1940's she had matured into a pleasantly gorgeous actress who made several memorable light comedies. This breezy murder mystery is one of her best. The entire film takes place over the Christmas weekend and it is snowing in almost every shot, making a marvelous backdrop to this fun film.

Nikki Collins (Deanna) is on a train bound for New York for the holidays. While reading a mystery by her favorite author, Wayne Morgan (David Bruce), she witnesses the murder of Josiah Warring from the window of her compartment. When no one will believe her, she hunts down mystery writer Morgan and slowly drags him into her enthusiastic search for the killer. He is engaged to a rather stuffy society babe, and we know right away that he and Durbin will end up together before the final curtain.

The murdered man was a rich shipping magnate and when Durbin attempts to snoop around the tycoon's mansion she is mistaken by nephew Arnold (Dan Duryea) for Margo Martin, the nightclub singer to whom Josiah has left everything, much to the chagrin of everyone. This gives Durbin an opportunity to go to the nightclub and do some amateur detective work, as well as do a sexy rendition of "Give Me a Little Kiss, Will Ya?" and the lovely "Night and Day" while she pretends to be Margo.

The real Margo gets murdered, of course, as does the owner of the swanky nightclub. And everyone seems to be after those blood stained slippers Nikki has found which prove the tycoon was really murdered. David Bruce does a nice job as the mystery writer Morgan as does Duryea as the black sheep of the family. Ralph Bellamy is fine as the good nephew. Edward Everett Horten gives a very funny performance as Mr. Haskell, who has been instructed to keep an eye on Durbin by her father, which proves to be a nearly impossible task!

This is an entertaining muder mystery that is a lot of fun to watch. Deanna Durbin and the great cast make this film light and airy. She married director Charles David II later on and maybe that's part of the happiness you feel from the screen. We get to watch a glowing Durbin solve a murder, fall in love and sing some nice songs, all during a snowy Christmas weekend. What could be wrong with that?

I don't know where to turn to - must be the government of the US. Deanna Durbin movies are not being released on DVD, and this is a crime!

Let's take this one: it's a movie with a perfectly well constructed storyline, real noir feeling (especially towards the climax), a good surprise ending... and of course Deanna Durbin, whom I have no need to praise, since she is always sheer quality itself. The copy is very good, and the "coming attractions" reel is truly nice as well.

So, must be content with the VHS version until someone finally does something about it!

This was my first introduction to Deanna Durbin, and what a place to start! The movie is fast-paced and witty with elements of musicals and mysteries thrown in for good measure. The movie is an absolute joy and Deanna Durbin shows why she was so popular.

I watched this movie with my Dad on a rainy Saturday and we were both impressed. The movie's a little long but is entertaining throughtout. Snappy dialogue. Deanna sings a few nice tunes in an atmospheric mystery with a truly suprising culprit. I wish I lived in the 40s.

A delightfully engaging little flick which is fun to watch on a rainy night! As a mystery/dectective novel fan, Deanna is charming and turns in a superb performance as Nicki, the naive young lady who witnesses a murder on a passing train! When the NYPD ignores her account of the crime, she sets out to recruit a famed author who specialises in whodunits to crack the case - together! Bellamy is good in his offbeat role as Jonathan. This is a fast-paced movie with a bright and witty script which is loaded with laughs (the unusual blend works here) plus plenty of scary adventures thru which our Ms. Durbin cleverly manages to survive. The black and white photography is glistening! The songs include SILENT TRAIN and GIVE ME A LITTLE KISS, WILL YA, HUH?

As a big fan of Leslie Charteris' Saint series, starring Simon Templar: gentleman thief, I was very pleased to find this video of one of the screenplays that Charteris wrote during his stint in Hollywood. This is a classic Charteris mystery, and has the same sort of whodunit surprise ending as many of his Saint stories. If you liked this film for the plot, check out some of the old RKO Saint movies from the 1940's, or the classic Roger Moore Saint TV series from the 1960's.

Lady on a Train (1945) Mystery loving Nikki Collins (Deanna Durbin) witnesses a murder in a building outside her train window, then can't convince anyone she saw it in this entertaining comedy mystery. When she can't get the police to believe her, (they think the death was an accident) she turns to mystery writer Wayne Morgan (David Bruce) but he is also skeptical. Nikki then mixes herself up with the dead man's family (including Ralph Bellamy-Trading Places) to try to prove there was a murder, even as the murderer continues to kill, making each murder look like an accident. This is a very entertaining blend of comedy and mystery, which was a vehicle to move singing star Durbin away from the romantic musicals she was hugely popular in. To ease the transition Durbin does sing three songs, which are spaced out well and aren't too obtrusive. The mystery is fun, there is some suspense, and Durbin is a very attractive lead. If you like a good old fashioned movie that throws in a little of everything to entertain, this is a safe bet.

A film noir starring Deanna Durbin may seem as natural as eating an oyster with a splash of chocolate syrup, but if you're adventurous, well, somebody has to be the first to try it. Actually, the movie's a pleasant romp. Lady on a Train is a comedy mystery with some nice noir characteristics...shadows, trains, bodies and a climax in a darkened office building that would make Dick Powell feel right at home.

Nikki Collins (Durbin) is a society deb from San Francisco coming in on the train for a visit to New York. As the train pulls into Grand Central, she casually looks out the window of her compartment and sees an elderly gentleman in an office across the way having his head bashed in by a crowbar-wielding murderer. She can see the victim's face, but not the assailant's. There are two things we need to know about Nikki. First, she's an energetic, confident young woman who is as determined as they come. Second, she loves mysteries. In fact, she was reading Wayne Morgan's "The Case of the Headless Bride" when she looked out the window. She goes to the police but they don't take her seriously. Plus, it's a few days before Christmas and no one is looking for more work than they already have. What's an heiress to do? Nikki looks up Morgan's address and pesters and prods him into using his skills as a detective to help find the killer. Nikki isn't fazed when Morgan (David Bruce) tries to tell her he's an author, he's shy, he's faint-hearted and he's no detective. She's determined to enlist his help, but in the meantime she's learned who the victim is, a very rich man. And she learns not only where he lived, but that his family is saying the man died accidently in a fall. So off she goes to the family mansion in the dead of night with snow starting to sift down...and just happens to be mistaken for Margo Martin, a singer at The Circus nightclub who was the "fiance" of the dead man. Wouldn't you know it, the old man's will leaves nothing to his two nephews, the eccentric and courtly Jonathan Waring (Ralph Bellamy) and the charming and untrustworthy Arnold Waring (Dan Duryea), but everything to Margo.

Nikki has to deal with Danny, the Waring's thug of a chauffeur, and Mr. Saunders, the cold-eyed proprietor of The Circus who always carries a large white cat cradled in one arm. She finds she has to keep impersonating Margo, even if it means she has to sing "Night and Day" and "Give Me a Little Kiss, Will You, Huh?" as part of Margo's act. Tailing after her, like a small tug in the wake of a cruiser, is Morgan. I think they're starting to be attracted to each other.

Up to now the movie has been amusing, light-weight and very much a vehicle for Deanna Durbin. She's no longer the little girl with a wonderful voice, as she was in the Thirties and Early Forties. She's a grown-up, and the studio is showing her off as a romantic lead who has a sense of humor. She's impeccably photographed, stylishly dressed and confident as all get out. It all pays off in the last 15 minutes when Nikki finds herself in the same office building where the killing took place. She's got both nephews looking for her, and one of them knows where the crowbar is hidden and intends to use it. There's the garage with the creaking car lift, the great storage floor where mounds of grain are piled, there are all the empty offices and hallways...and everything is dark and shadowed. Nikki keeps her cool, although she's quite happy when Morgan finally shows up to help save her. "Oh, darling," she tells him afterwards, as he faints, "you were wonderful." Could the movie end without a marriage? And we know Deanna Durbin has grown up when, just before we see "The End," there's a charming moment of sexual innuendo on the train taking Nikki and Morgan, newly married, to San Francisco.

Deanna Durbin never seemed to take herself too seriously; she was always ready for a pratfall in the mud or a joke at her expense. She may not have had Judy Garland's overwhelming charisma, but she came close for a lot of people. More importantly, she didn't have Garland's edgy sense of an impending neurotic breakdown. Durbin was the girl next door with a sunny disposition, a great sense of humor and with a bit of the tomboy about her. In 1948, when she was 27, she announced her retirement. She and her husband, who directed this film, moved to France, where she still lives. She has never shown any interest in her movie-making past. She has never made another movie, has refused all requests for interviews and photographs, and has devoted herself to living a sane life. Good for her.

The studio surrounded her in this film with some excellent character actors. In addition to Duryea and Bellamy, there's George Coulouris, Allen Jenkins, Edward Everett Horton, Samuel S. Hinds and William Frawley. And in a small role is Patricia Morrison, who three years later would be wowing the crowds singing "I Hate Men!" in Kiss Me Kate.

This movie is available in a good-looking VHS tape and, on DVD, as part of the Deanna Durbin Sweetheart Pack.

A gem of a comedy who-done-it, with 3 or 4 great songs beautifully performed by Deanna Durbin. The comedy and music don't interfere with the suspense that effectively leads to a surprise ending. There are a lot of familiar faces giving very good performances, including Ralph Bellamy (Ellery Queen, Trading Places), Dan Duryea (Black Angel, Scarlet Street), Allen Jenkins (Five Came Back), Edward Everett Horton (Top Hat, Pocketful of Miracles), William Frawley (I Love Lucy, My Three Sons) and Samuel S. Hinds. In one scene that stands out Durbin inadvertently prevents thug Allen Jenkins from ambushing her, with her beautiful rendition of Silent Night over the phone to her father. If you're old enough to remember, or if you're just into old movies enough to recognize any of the names here, this is one you'll want to check out.