SoTrumpBelieve Must See Movie...

Salubfoto It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

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.

Martin Teller 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.

perrylyn-1 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.