Wonderful character development!

ridiculous rating

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Ace combo of a bouncy Durbin, a complex murder mystery, noirish lighting, and of course, tuneful songs. I only hope Durbin survived that brain-sucking hat she wore to the snooty nightclub. It looks like it's about to consume her head. But then women of the time weren't considered well dressed without commanding headwear. And some are real doozys. Good thing fashions change. It's a complicated whodunit, with a houseful of suspects. Margo (Durbin) witnesses a murder and decides, in good 40's fashion, to do some amateur sleuthing, which takes her into the jaws of danger since bodies keep piling up. Durbin may get high-key lighting for her tunes, but otherwise she navigates a shadowy world worthy of Edgar G. Ulmer. I like that packed movie theatre that Margo sabotages with her constant seat changes. Takes me back to theatres of years ago.Director David keeps things moving such that the congested plot passes effortlessly. Too bad Durbin left the business so soon. Given half-a-chance, she's a sparkling presence, perfect for light entertainment, such as this. Too bad most folks don't know what a star she was for an all-too-brief period from the 30's to the 40's. Anyway, she shines here as a young adult in an entertaining blend typical of the time. Plus, it's one that still engages....

Deanna Durbin witnesses a murder when her train from and mystery. Durbin plays detective and by accident recognizes the victim on a movie news reel. She then sets out to prove that the guy didn't exactly die from an accidental death as first thought. That's when the mayhem starts. Durbin comes across two unusual nephews, his grieving widow played by a cantankerous Elizabeth Patterson,Edward Everett Horton as the man from her dad's firm selected to watch over her while she is in New York, a mystery writer and his jealous girlfriend and a secretary all create quite a stir here.Masquerading as the singer who was in cahoots with the killers, Durbin was able to display her ever beautiful voice, especially belting out Cole Porter's Night and Day.The ending might be a little tricky to follow, but there is general fun to be had by viewing this film.

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)

*Some minor spoilers* There are a heap of negative - or at least heavily qualified - reviews of Lady on a Train already, so hopefully this one will balance things somewhat. I watched the film last night and had a ball.Deanna Durbin hit the screen as a gawky, talented kid in an MGM one-reeler (Every Sunday, alongside Judy Garland), became the gal who saved Universal via a string of enchanting, well-produced musicals, then – with the onset of her adulthood – graduated to more mature fare, before retiring to obscurity in France with husband Charles David.In this excellent hybrid of screwball comedy and murder mystery (directed by David), the 24-year-old Durbin is ideally cast as a pleasant, energetic crime fiction fan. After witnessing the murder of an industrial tycoon, she stumbles confusedly around for an hour, singing a few songs, rubbing people up the wrong way and trying, desperately, to hold on to the fluffy, blood-stained bedroom slippers that constitute her only evidence. The backdrop is like a Falcon film, cross-cut with Bringing Up Baby - with Durbin bouncing around in front.Music-wise, we get three diverse Durbin tracks. First off is a lovely reading of Silent Night that's curiously imagined but exquisitely sung, reducing gun-toting trespasser Allen Jenkins to tears. Then, masquerading as a nightclub chanteuse, Deanna performs the sultry Give Me a Little Kiss and Cole Porter's Night and Day, which is cleverly staged and given a complex, tom tom-led arrangement.The script is smart, sharp and inventive, and the whole thing is shot like a dream by Woody Bredell, cinematographer on six other Durbin films, as well as the classic noir The Killers. Perhaps the Christmas angle could have been hyped up a little in the story, but I've rarely seen a film that looks as Christmassy.The supporting cast is simply as good as it gets. Edward Everett Horton is perfect as a befuddled yes man charged with chaperoning Durbin, while Allen Jenkins plays it uncharacteristically gruff and tough as the murderer's henchman. Our chief suspects are Samuel Hinds (whose part is slightly underwritten), an exceptional Dan Duryea – bristling with charm and menace – and Ralph Bellamy. Elizabeth Patterson shines as Duryea and Bellamy's crotchety aunt. David Bruce, whose career as a leading man was oddly limited, is excellent, entirely lacking vanity as he racks up the laughs.I'd recommend this film to anyone who enjoys classic comedies, or just old movies in general. It really is great fun, with comedy, music, romance and intrigue blending wonderfully.