Die Dame im Zug

The 1930s and 40s had some lovely actresses. But few of them could compare to the dazzling Deanna Durbin. With her sparkling eyes, her wholesome smile, her beautifully blonde hair, and her charming personality, Durbin outshines everyone else in this film by far, and lifts a drab story to the level of enjoyment. 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, from the beginning, viewers understand that the story is a spoof, not to be taken seriously. Playing amateur detective, Nikki races around amid various characters and comic situations, attempting to find the killer. But she's just too lucky and too clever for the plot to be considered credible.

The setting is New York City on Christmas Eve, with snow falling. As a result, the film has a soft, soothing feel to it, despite the criminal component. The film's humor is what I would describe as old-style. For example, one sequence has Nikki trying to get the attention of a mystery writer, while the writer and his girlfriend sit in a crowded theater. Nikki moves in and out of rows, disrupting the audience, with predictable humorous consequences.

In the film, Durbin sings a couple of songs, and thereby interrupts the film's flow. But, in one case, the interruption is justified, as it becomes, for me, the highlight of the entire film. Into a telephone, she sings two full verses of "Silent Night". With her magically radiant face and her beautiful singing voice, she exalts the already beautiful Christmas carol to resplendent melodic purity. This sequence is almost hypnotic in its simple beauty, and alone redeems the film from its many flaws.

Usually, I don't care for films that exist seemingly just to advance the career of the film's star. However, "Lady On A Train" is an exception. The story is not very interesting, the gags are tiresome, and the acting is average. But, through sheer force of her charming personality, Deanna Durbin alone makes this film worth watching.

Deanna Durbin made many movies, mostly bad. But the ones that are good make all the others palatable, including "Lady on a train". She was a unique personality. Almost impossible not to like. For example, It's like watching John Wayne walk through one boring, formulaic plot after another and not minding because you just like John Wayne. So to be thoroughly charmed by Deanna Durbin, you have to inoculate yourself against the dumb plots she was given later in her career. First dose should be with one of the best stories. "It started with eve" That should win you over for anything to come later. Then it's good to go to the beginning, her first picture, "Three Smart Girls" when she was a little girl and won everyone's hearts ( but be warned the story and direction are bit creaky). Your third dose should be "Three smart girls grow up" by this time your ready to take on and enjoy any of her movies regardless of plot. I do admit to fast-forwarding past some of her singing in her later movies, but that's because they're badly placed in the story and tend to slow things down to a crawl. Bottom line, she's something special and not to be missed.

Deanna Durbin was truly a Hollywood phenomenon. Never comfortable as a film star, she exuded just enough conflicting emotion to make her screen persona fascinating.

In film after film, regardless of the part or situation, Durbin was never entirely at home before the camera or in her roles. True, she put up a great front, and by her mid teens was the highest paid female in the world.

Audiences loved her, supported her films, bought Durbin dolls, and reveled in her fan clubs. But Durbin herself apparently couldn't have cared less.

"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. It gives Deanna a chance to flex her adult acting chops, while offering ample opportunities to warble vocal selections.

Durbin's dichotomy of between being on camera while wishing she were somewhere else is what provides her personality intrigue. Despite her infectious smile and gorgeous natural voice, Durbin's persona was negative.

What saved her was that she was a very good actress, and in fact became the saving grace of Universal Studios. Finally finding salvation in marriage to her "Lady on a Train" director, she kissed everything goodbye and left filmdom at the peak of her powers.

I'm sure she found what she was looking for in that quaint Parisian suburb, and that she may have significantly extended her longevity in the process. In the meantime, she left her public with some very pleasant films to enjoy.

This marks the first film I've seen by Ms. Durbin from beginning to end and I must say I found it to be a lot of fun. 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. There was also the (I think) required scene where she got to speak to someone on a white telephone. 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). You might even call this picture screwball noir. 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. The only negative comment I have is that there are a few dated racial stereotypes that I wish had been eliminated. Other than that, I found it to be stylish entertainment.

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. As you watch, you do want to see how it comes out, but in itself it's relatively insubstantial. The settings and characters provide more of the material for the cast to use. 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.