dougdoepke 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....

edwagreen 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.

MartinHafer As I read through the reviews for "Lady on a Train", I was very surprised at how positive they were. After all, I thought the movie was poorly written and, at times, a bit dumb. 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. However, at one of the stops, she sees a man being killed outside her window. Does she pull the emergency cord to alert the driver to stop? Nope. Does she make the conductor stop the train? Nope. Instead, she waits until the train arrives at the station and then goes to the nearest police station--and babbles like an idiot and explains what she saw in a very poor manner. Naturally, the policeman at the desk thought she was a nut. Does she go to another cop or another police station? Nope...she decides to find a mystery writer and get his help!!! He tells her to go to the cops--and instead she runs off on some insane lark to investigate the case for herself!Soon Nikki reads that the man she saw murdered was a rich guy who's allegedly died by falling off a ladder. So, she tells the cops, right? Nope. Instead, she sneaks onto the dead guy's property and is nearly torn apart by guard dogs. When she is discovered, the guy who found her thinks she's come for the reading of the will--and she then poses as Margo Martin--the nightclub singer who is about to inherit everything! Not surprisingly, this offers her a chance to sing a few songs at the nightclub--where no one (including the band) seemed to notice that she wasn't Margo! Huh?!There's a lot more to it than this. However, whether you'll care will depend on if you buy the story. I didn't. I hate a film where repeatedly the viewer needs to accept that the leading character NEVER behaves rationally or makes normal decisions. It made watching the film a real chore for me--though as I said before, most reviews on IMDb are very, very favorable. The bottom line is how willing are you to suspend disbelief? And, how much do you adore Miss Durbin? If the answer to both is yes--than by all means watch and most likely you'll enjoy the film. I just couldn't get past the sub-par writing and Durbin deserved better. For me, it's a watchable time-passer and not much more.

john-morris43 Any allusions made here to similarities to an Agatha Christie plot are inadvertently correct. 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). The story was published in the United States with the title, "What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw!" In 1961, Margaret (later Dame Margaret) Rutherford, filmed her first of five Miss Marple roles, "Murder, She Said," based on "4.50 from Paddington." Although audiences across the globe adored Miss Rutherford's indomitable antics, Agatha Christie took a dim view of the comedic aspect of her Miss Marple as rendered by Margaret Rutherford. One must wonder what the author had to say of the farce made of her story in this 1945 Universal Pictures version. Under various titles, and subsequent to the aforementioned Rutherford film, "4.50 from Paddington" was presented by the BBC in 1987 and starred the woman who played Mrs. Kidder in the original movie, Joan Hickson. In 2004, ITV presented"4:50" in a series of Miss Marple stories which featured Geraldine McEwan in the principal role. A 2008 French film, Le crime est notre affaire, is a late adaptation of the same Christie story