Lady on a Train

Plot synopsis:
San Francisco debutante Nicki Collins goes to visit her aunt in New York. Her father's employee, Haskell, is to meet her and facilitate her stay. Before reaching Grand Central, Nicki's train makes a brief stop and she looks up from reading a mystery by novelist Wayne Morgan—and witnesses a murder in a nearby building.
Upon arrival, she slips away from Haskell and goes to the police, but the desk sergeant, seeing the novel in her hand, assumes she imagined the crime. She decides that Wayne Morgan must be able to solve a murder, finds him, and pesters him to get involved. Following Morgan and his fiancee into a theater, she sees a newsreel about the "accidental" death of shipping magnate Josiah Waring—and recognizes him as the murder victim.
Unable to find the crime scene, Nicki sneaks onto the grounds of Waring's mansion. She is mistaken for Margo Martin, who was expected but has not come. Waring's will is read by his lawyer, Wiggam: Waring's nephews Arnold and Jonathan are not surprised to receive a token $1 inheritance, while the bulk of the estate goes to Margo Martin—his trophy fiancee, a singer at a nightclub he owns. Nicki snoops around the house and takes away a pair of bloody slippers that disprove the story of an accident. Two conspirators in the murder try but fail to stop her: Saunders, who turns out to be the nightclub's manager and another heir, and the chauffeur Danny.
Back with Haskell, Nicki makes another attempt to involve Morgan, phoning him and pretending a man is there attacking her—not realizing that Danny is there and is about to. Before he can, she makes another call, to her father. While she is singing to him, Danny spots the slippers and departs, separately attacking Haskell and Morgan. (Nicki assumes they mistakenly attacked each other.)
For various reasons, everyone goes to the nightclub. Nicki speaks to Margo and becomes suspicious. She locks Margo in a closet, goes on stage, and sings in her place. When freed, Margo tells Saunders she was never interested in the plot and stalks off; she is later murdered.
Arnold and Jonathan make romantic overtures to Nicki, but Saunders has her called backstage. He and Danny admit their involvement in the murder and threaten her, but Morgan breaks into the room and Nicki takes the slippers back. A series of backstage fights follows. Nicki escapes back to the stage and sings again. Morgan learns that one of the people she is sitting with—Arnold, Jonathan, and Wiggam—must be the murderer and manages to warn her. Meanwhile, Morgan's fiancee, thinking he is two-timing her with Nicki, dumps him.
Danny shoots Saunders. Nicki and Morgan leave with the slippers, but are arrested in the morning based on false information from Danny. Nicki tries to present the slippers, but Morgan's valet has them—and proudly shows how clean they now are.
Arnold, Jonathan, and Haskell all arrive at the jail to pay Nicki's bail. Arnold says the Warings would like to meet her and drives her to their company's offices, but nobody is there. They talk about the case and he admits that he had motive, but so did Jonathan, Wiggam, and especially Saunders. Nicki, frightened, manages to get away from him.
Finding Jonathan in the building, she tells him that Arnold is the murderer. They hide in a room—and it is the scene of the crime she saw from the train. Jonathan is the murderer. He confesses braggingly: next he will kill her, frame Arnold, and kill Arnold supposedly while defending Nicki.
Arnold slips into the room and grabs Jonathan's gun, but then Morgan arrives and mistakes the situation, and Jonathan gets it back. As Morgan tries unconvincingly to tell Jonathan that the police will be coming, they do.
In the final scene, Nicki and Wayne Morgan are newlyweds on a train. She is enjoying his newest book so much she tells the porter not to make up their beds until she finishes reading, and Morgan promptly tells her how it ends.

Tags: mystery, murder

Review:
She's made up to look sophisticated as she emotes in a screwball comedy-mystery about a girl who witnesses a murder from her train window and then sets out to find the corpse and the killer with the help of a mystery writer (David Bruce).
Deanna Durbin not only manages to bring comic flair and poise to her inquisitive young lady--she does a nifty job on some torchy night-club numbers: Night and Day and Give Me A Little Kiss, as well as Silent Night for a Christmas scene.
Talents as diverse as Deanna Durbin's charm and singing ability, Edward Everett Horton's flair for screwball comedy, and Dan Duryea's knack for portraying impish, enigmatic characters, are brought together here in a pretty good comic mystery.
Neither the mystery story nor the comedy would have been enough to sustain a movie by itself, but they fit together well, with the help of an assortment of interesting characters and some well-chosen settings.The mystery story is rather like a simplified (and less plausible) version of an Agatha Christie-style plot, and it seems likely that the similarity was intended.
A couple of the settings were done quite nicely, especially the night club/dressing room set, which allowed for some interesting possibilities, and which also fits in pretty well with the story.While it is true that nothing about "Lady On A Train" is exceptional, at the same time it has a lot of small strengths that add up to an enjoyable movie..
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!.
This film is without a doubt a star vehicle for Ms. Durbin; I think I counted 7 costume changes, at least 5 different blond hairstyles over the course of the picture and it was well directed by her husband Charles David.
The plot of the picture is that Ms. Durbin sees a murder from her train window and enlists the aid of a mystery writer to solve the crime.
I am a fan of film noir and this film is sort of a combination film noir (good mystery plot, chases in dark alleys), musical (Durbin singing "Silent Night" and "Night and Day" among others)and comedy (many slapstick scenes involving Ms. Durbin as an amateur detective).
Ms. Durbin was probably the most popular star under contract to Universal until Abbott and Costello arrived and this film marked one of the few change of pace roles she was given and she literally shines in the part.
Deanna Durbin is a "Lady on a Train" in this 1945 mystery/comedy also starring David Bruce, Dan Duryea Edward Everett Horton, Ralph Bellamy, Patricia Morison, and George Coulouris.
The film is directed by Durbin's future husband, Charles David.Photographed and wardrobed like the great star she was, Durbin plays Nikki Collins, a débutante who comes to New York to spend the Christmas holidays with her aunt.
Nikki finds herself involved with the victim's money-grubbing family and puts herself in danger.A screwball comedy with the delightful Durbin doing a great job, singing like a dream, and looking fabulous.
"Lady on a Train" is a case in point: her fifth to final film made at age 24 just 3 years before she retired at age 27, is a quirky hybrid of murder mystery, musical, and comedy.
She plays Nikki Collins, a smart young woman, the "Lady", in Charles David's "Lady On A Train", who, from her train compartment, witnesses an unlikely murder in a nearby building.Technically, the film is a whodunit.
But, through sheer force of her charming personality, Deanna Durbin alone makes this film worth watching..
Recently viewed "Lady on a Train" and was surprised to see Deanna Durbin walking along an elevated train track in New York City.
Her singing of "Night & Day" in a Circus Cafe and her great supporting cast with Ralph Bellamy(Dr.in Rosemary's Baby) and Dan Duryea(oldest actor to start a career in acting) was great entertainment.
Deanna Durbin financially helped Universal Pictures over the years, however, her acting roles fell below her standards and she retired and married director Charles David and lives in Paris, France.
So to be thoroughly charmed by Deanna Durbin, you have to inoculate yourself against the dumb plots she was given later in her career.
Deanna Durbin had one of the best singing voices in movies in the 1940s, and a pleasing personality.
She tries to get the train to stop so others can see what she saw, but the people who come in don't see a life and death struggle going on.Yet two days later Durbin is reading the newspaper and sees an item about the death of a major businessman (Thurston Hall).
Sure, the actors tried their best (it did have a pretty impressive supporting cast for Deanna Durbin), but the film often just made little sense.When the film begins, Nikki Collins (Durbin) is on a train bound for New York.
Stars Deanna Durbin, David Bruce, Dan Duryea, Edward Everett Horton, Ralph Bellamy (et al.) all bring seasoned talent aboard.
As in Agatha Christie's tale, 4:51 From Paddington (aka What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw), Durbin witnesses a murder from her train window.
In one long sequence she impersonates the heiress to his estate, a chanteuse in a posh nightclub; she thus gets to belt out a couple of numbers -- pleasant enough, but nothing like the singing-in-character she managed in Robert Siodmak's Christmas Holiday.
Terrible vehicle for Universal's resident singing star Deanna Durbin (here, at 23, still finding her footing as a womanly actress rather than as a teen starlet) attempts to combine a noir scenario with a comedic, screwball script, keeping Deanna breathless, illogical and dithering for nearly 95 minutes.
Arriving in New York City by train to visit her relatives, Durbin witnesses a murder from her passenger window; naturally, the police are of no help, so she enlists the expertise of a detective stories writer to help her solve the crime.
The movie comes to a screeching halt 3 times to allow star Deanna Durbin a chance to show off her vocals.
It was entertaining in the truest sense of the word, a film with an excellent script, an appealing cast with several very familiar faces and even some singing interludes by Deanna Durbin.
Lady On A Train represents Universal Studios trying to transition Deanna Durbin into more adult roles.
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.
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.
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.
It stars Deanna Durbin, Ralph Bellamy, David Bruce, George Coulouris, Allen Jenkins, Dan Duryea and Edward Everett Horton.
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.
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.
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.
First comes the traditional Christmas song, "Silent Night." Durbin sings it while on the phone with her father (H.H.) from California.
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.
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.
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.
Deanna Durbin (Nikki) is an avid murder mystery fan.
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!
Up to Nikki Collins' (Deanna Durbin's) departure from the train at the outset of the story, the plot line closely follows Agatha Christie's "4.50 from Paddington," (1957).
A woman witnesses a murder through the window of her train and enlists a hacky mystery novelist to help her solve the case.
her singing voice isn't that great (and her rendition of "Silent Night" is shoehorned into the story in the most awkward way) but she has some pretty good comedy chops.
The enjoyable supporting cast includes David Bruce, Ralph Bellamy, Dan Duryea and the always delightful Edward Everett Horton.
Ace combo of a bouncy Durbin, a complex murder mystery, noirish lighting, and of course, tuneful songs.
The original story was by Leslie Charteris, creator of "The Saint".Deanna Durbin (as a beautiful blonde) plays scatty Nicki Collins, addicted to crime novels, who sees a murder from her carriage window - she is going by train to spend Christmas in New York with her aunt and uncle.Of course no one believes her so she tries to enlist the help of Wayne Morgan (David Bruce) her favourite crime novelist.
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.
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.
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.
Deanna Durbin, grown up and starring in a sort of a noir, with comedy and murder.
Nikki Collins (Durbin) is a society deb from San Francisco coming in on the train for a visit to New York.
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.
As she looks out the train's window at a stop, probably 125th Street, Nikki sees a murder taking place in a building across from her.
"Lady on a Train" seems to have been a sort of valentine from director Charles David, who was in fact the husband of the star of the picture, Deanna Durbin, and whose marriage to her lasted almost a half a century, something not quite usual among show biz folks.
This film was a discovery when we first saw it because it has a lot going for it, and on second viewing still keeps our interest.Deanna Durbin stopped making films a few years after this picture was completed, a sad loss, indeed, for all her fans.
We are able to hear her sing three songs: "Silent Night", "Give Me a Little Kiss", and an amazing rendition of "Night and Day".The supporting cast does a good job for the director.
" Deanna Durbin Shines In Noir/Comedy ".
Lady on a Train offers a change of pace for actress Deanna Durbin.
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.
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.
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.
It's another Christmas holiday for Deanna Durbin, and this time, she's got a fun script and the perfect atmosphere.
Through the aide and blockage of a superb supporting cast, Durbin turns this into a very entertaining mystery comedy with a few songs added.
Deanna Durbin witnesses a murder when her train from and mystery.
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..
***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!
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.