. . . with THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN (the 2016 Emily Blunt flick based upon Paula Hawkins' 2015 novel), since I'm the only person that they know who has seen both movies. Most of my circle assumes that the show that they've actually watched--GIRL--is far more violent than LADY ON A TRAIN, since GIRL is more recent and people are getting offed with rocks and corkscrews during its story. However, LADY does not restrict itself to just polite Edwardian stranglings and Rat-a-Tat-Tat firearm slayings. During LADY a crowbar also gets a homicidal star turn. 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. LADY's perky heiress Nikki certainly seems to have a leg up on the depressed divorcee "Rachel" of GIRL (especially when it comes to singing talent). Though some may wince at GIRL's title, and find it demeaning if not misogynistic, LADY includes a racist reference to a person of Japanese Origin just 10 minutes or so into its convoluted tale. This, however, should be blamed upon what was then known as the U.S. Department of War, which legally forced ALL American movie studios to include such "morale-boosting" language in each and every American flick of the World War Two Era.

Deanna Durbin (Nikki) is an avid murder mystery fan. She reads all the books and her favourite author of the moment is David Bruce (Wayne). While riding on a train and engrossed in yet another murder story, she witnesses an actual murder as her train passes by an apartment. On arriving at the station, she goes to report it but the police dismiss her. She seeks out Bruce, and together they embark upon solving the case.It's a film that promises more than it delivers given the cast. It's too complicated at times as there are too many characters and the film is completely unbelievable. You definitely have to suspend belief which ruins things for me. No way would any of this happen. Still, Durbin is OK as she leads us through things and we get a twist at the end. It's all done as a comedy which is a pity. It could have been a more powerful effort if played straight. And I regret to say that Durbin sings 3 songs – atrociously, of course.It's OK if a little disappointing. 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! She's likable in this but you can skip it. And Edward Everett Horton's schtick really drags.

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

A woman witnesses a murder through the window of her train and enlists a hacky mystery novelist to help her solve the case. Comic noir is usually not my bag, but I found this one a lot of fun. I liked Durbin much better here than in Christmas HOLIDAY... 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. Duryea is an actor who took me a long time to warm up to, but he works really well in this setting. I'd like to see him in more comedies. The movie isn't incredibly funny, but it is amusing and moreover, the script does a good job of blending the humorous and the crime thriller. One crummy rear projection shot notwithstanding, it's surprisingly well photographed, with some terrific images and fine use of lighting. Does it explore the darkest depths of humanity or knock you over with hard-boiled realism? No, in fact a lot of it is really implausible. But as light entertainment, it hits the spot nicely and sports some clever construction.