Lady on a Train (1945)

★ 6.6 1h 34m IMDb

While watching from her train window, Nikki Collins witnesses a murder in a nearby building. When she alerts the police, they think she has read one too many mystery novels. She then enlists a popular mystery writer to help her solve the crime on her own, but her sleuthing attracts the attentions of suitors and killers.

Lady on a Train

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Cast

Deanna Durbin
Deanna Durbin as Nikki Collins / Margo Martin Died 2013 · Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Edna Mae Durbin (December 4, 1921 – April 17, 2013), known professionally as Deanna Durbin, was a Canadian-born actress and singer, who moved to the USA with her family in infancy. She appeared in mus...
Ralph Bellamy
Ralph Bellamy as Jonathan Waring Died 1991 · Chicago, Illinois, USA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Ralph Rexford Bellamy (June 17, 1904 – November 29, 1991) was an American actor whose career spanned 62 years on stage, screen and television. During his career...
David Bruce
David Bruce as Wayne Morgan Died 1976 · Kankakee, Illinois, USA David Bruce (born Marden Andrew McBroom; January 6, 1914 – May 3, 1976) was an American film actor, known for his chilling performance as Ted Allison in The Mad Ghoul. He was a company member of Penin...
George Coulouris
George Coulouris as Mr. Saunders, Circus Club Manager Died 1989 · Manchester, England, UK George Coulouris was a British stage, film and television actor. George Alexander Coulouris was an English film and stage actor. He was perhaps best known for his collaborations with Orson Welles, mos...
Allen Jenkins
Allen Jenkins as Danny (Waring chauffeur) Died 1974 · Staten Island, New York City, New York, USA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Allen Jenkins (April 9, 1900 – July 20, 1974) was an American character actor on stage, screen and television. He was born Alfred McGonegal on Staten Island, Ne...
Dan Duryea
Dan Duryea as Arnold Waring Died 1968 · White Plains, New York, USA ​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Dan Duryea (January 23, 1907, in White Plains, New York – June 7, 1968, in Hollywood, California) was an American actor of film, stage and television. Duryea gr...

Audience Reviews

John Chard 7.5/10 Dec 29, 2013
Genre blender of considerable worth.

Lady on a Train is directed by Charles David and adapted to screenplay by Edmund Beloin and Robert O’Brien from a Leslie Charteris story. It stars Deanna Durbin, Ralph Bellamy, David Bruce, George Coulouris, Allen Jenkins, Dan Duryea and Edward Everett Horton. Music is by Miklos Rozsa and cinematography by Woody Bredell.

Part murder mystery, part film noir, part comedy and part musical! And it’s a Christmas movie as well! Lady on a Train has a lot going on for sure. It’s a fun packed little movie that gives Durbin full licence to show her various talents before she retired out of the limelight three years later. In main essence it’s the murder mystery aspect that drives the picture forward. Durbin plays Nikki Collins, a spunky young woman who loves reading detective mysteries, so when she witnesses a murder being committed from her train window seat, she’s obviously all of a tingle. However, convincing the authorities of what she saw proves to be difficult and she decides to take up the case herself. Pretty soon she is up to her neck in intrigue and life threatening peril.

Things start getting twisty once Durbin meets the victim’s bizarre family, a veritable roll call of miserablists and shifty shysters. Aided by mystery writer Wayne Morgan (Bruce), Nikki has to run the gamut of bluffing and boldness to stay one step ahead of the game, including imitating a chanteuse singer. This allows Durbin to the chance to warble three songs, with a version of “Silent Night” beautifully tender and a sensuous and sultry rendition of “Gimme a Little Kiss, Will Yah, Huh?” Having us in the palm of her hand. It builds nicely to a darkly tinged last third, where Bredell’s noirish photography comes into its own and the resolution of the tale is most satisfactory. Good laughs, good suspense and good songs, well worth a viewing. Story was filmed as a straight British thriller in 1940 titled A Window in London, with Michael Redgrave starring. 7/10

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