kapelusznik18 ***SPOILERS*** It's when San Francisco débutante Nicki Collins, Deanna Durbin, saw a murder being committed while in transit to the Big Apple or NYC she tried her best to get the NYPD who,in it being the Christmas holidays, had much better things on their mind to sliver it. While trying to get famed mystery writer Wayne Morgan, David Bruce, to find the killer in a local movie-house where his fiancée Joyce Williams, Patricia Morison, was on the screen Nicki to her both shock & surprise saw a newsreel about the tragic death, he fell from a step ladder, of shipping magnet Joseah Waring! That was the man she saw murdered at the train stop by an shadowy figure!It's when Nicki went to the Waring Estate in Long Island to check things out about the old man's demise she's mistaken for the old guys new flame night cub singer Margo Martin whom he left his entire fortune to. With old man Joseah Warings' relatives being left out of his will things start to heat up with all of them trying in one way or another to get Margo, or better yet Nicki, to give up her claim to her dead lover's money & personal property. As for Margo, the real one, herself she's later murdered at the night club that she works at by one of Waring outraged, in being left out of his will, relatives.***SPOILERS*** The pretty Canadian Nightingale Deanna Durbin was at her best as she belted out songs like "Silent Night" & "Night & Day" as well as being the damsel in distress but it was the final few minutes of the movie that really made things matter in the reason for old man Waring's brutal murder. Not only was he knocked off but everyone who suspected he was in fact murdered, not that he died in an accident, was to be knocked off as well by his killer. It was Nicki who in finding out who the killer was that put her life in mortal danger. Not just by the killer but the Keystone Kops and her boyfriend mystery writer Wayne Morgan who kept screwing things up and almost made it possible for the killer to not only get away with his crimes but add Niki, as his latest victim, to them.

lugonian LADY ON A TRAIN (Universal, 1945), directed by Charles David, stars Deanna Durbin in another change of pace from her usual "sweetheart" image of musical films, this time a fine mix of murder mystery and comedy. Having already given an emotional dramatic performance in Christmas HOLIDAY (1944), playing a troubled girl with a dark past, this time the dark-haired girl becomes a blonde who spends her Christmas holiday stirring up trouble trying to solve a murder she had witnessed.Coming from Chicago by train to spend Christmas in New York with her Aunt Martha, Nikki Collins (Deanna Durbin) a San Francisco débutante and avid reader of murder mysteries, sits in her compartment very much obsessed with her latest book, "The Case of the Headless Bride" by Wayne Morgan. As the train makes a stop, Nikki looks out her window onto an apartment building where she witnesses a middle-aged man (Thurston Hall) being murdered with a crowbar in an apartment building by the back of a mysterious man seen through the shadows after pulling down the shades. Shocked from what she's witnessed, Nikki, after arriving at Grand Central Station, bypasses her father's awaiting attorney, Mr. Haskell (Edward Everett Horton), "of the New York office," to enter a taxi bound for the nearest police station. Her report to desk sergeant Brennan (William Frawley) is not taken seriously, especially after noticing the mystery novel in her hand. After setting up residence at the Park Towers Hotel, Nikki pays a visit to mystery novelist, Wayne Morgan (David Bruce) for advice. Taking his suggestion by returning to the scene of the crime, Nikki spends the entire day doing so. Following Morgan escorting his fiancée, Joyce Williams (Patricia Morison) to the newsreel theater, Nikki notices the murder victim being presented on the theater screen as ship magnate Josiah Waring, who had fallen to his death from a step ladder at his residence. Tracing his estate to Long Island, Nikki trespasses and finds herself mistaken for Waring's young fiancée, Margo Martin (Maria Palmer), a night club singer. Going on with her masquerade, she soon encounters Waring's nephews, Jonathan (Ralph Bellamy) and Arnold (Dan Duryea); their outspoken Aunt Charlotte (Elizabeth Patterson); Mr. Saunders (George Coulouris) a mysterious night club owner with his white cat companion; Danny (Allen Jenkins), Saunders' chauffeur; and Mr. Wiggam (Samuel S. Hinds), the family attorney at the estate reading Waring's will. After further involving poor Morgan into the case, further complications, additional murders and evidence ensue leading to the case of the missing bedroom slippers. And this is how Nikki spent her Christmas holiday.Not breaking away from the traditional Durbin formula, three pleasant song interludes are presented. First comes the traditional Christmas song, "Silent Night." Durbin sings it while on the phone with her father (H.H.) from California. Rather than having the camera set still on through the two verses, it captures her moments through various angles. Next comes "Give Me a Little Kiss," performed at the Circus Club where Nikki (Durbin), masquerading the songstress, sings it in a sultry, sexy manner as she crouches around one of its patrons, Wayne Morgan, thus stirring up more trouble between him and his jealous fiancée (Morison). The third, Cole Porter's immortal, "Night and Day" sung to a dark and moody atmosphere at that same nightclub, with touches of suspense and "film noir" fashion during her performance while knowingly being in constant danger surrounded by any one watching to possibly be the real killer.An impressive supporting cast of Jacqueline De Wit (as Morgan's secretary); Horton, Jenkins, Coulouris, and Patterson, all give capable performances. Only David Bruce, making his third and final appearance opposite Durbin, is unfamiliar by both name and face. He does, however, prove satisfactory playing the harassed author constantly annoyed by Nikki while struggling for a creative story on his next mystery, unaware that he's actually living the character and situations for his book. Morison, a fine actress in her own right, is wasted in her limited role, while Horton, the man hired to watch over his client's daughter, retains his familiar befuddled personality during all this confusion.Regardless of its title, there's not much train but plenty of lady to go around. It's understandable for anyone to confuse LADY ON A TRAIN for an Agatha Christie novel or the works of director Alfred Hitchcock (whose best train suspense thrillers being of THE LADY VANISHES (1938) and STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (1951)), yet, the film itself, adapted by Leslie Charteris, author and creator of the character, Simon Templar in "The Saint" novels, is a class by itself. Being one of many Hitchcock or Christie imitators, LADY ON A TRAIN offers a great opening and conclusion, with doses of humor in between that keeps the pace moving for 94 minutes. As much as the Durbin name and her movies have faded from memory throughout the years, due to lack of television revivals, LADY ON A TRAIN has made it on home video in the 1990s and later displayed onto DVD to assure availability for future generations to endure, especially mystery lovers like the Nikki Collins character. LADY ON A TRAIN did have its rare cable television presentation, on Turner Classic Movies, where it had its premiere March 6, 2003, and few re-broadcasts after-wards. As good highly entertaining as LADY ON A TRAIN is, it deserves to be more recognized. (*** guesses)

Terrell-4 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 accidentally 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.

JohnnyOldSoul This was the first Deanna Durbin film I've seen, and while it's much different than her other films, it seems a great place to start! The first thing that struck me was how likable Ms. Durbin is in the lead role. She keeps the tone light and airy, and the film flies along at a joyous speed! The photography is amazing (the snowy Manhattan sets and Ms. Durbin's close-ups are wonderful!) Deanna's vocals on "Night and Day" hint at a sensuality that wasn't present in her other pictures, and her rendition of "Silent Night" is divine.I won't summarize the plot, as it has been done in other comments, just suffice to say that this hilarious whodunit is perfect viewing while curled up with a hot drink on a snowy winter evening!