Lady On A Train (1945) Here's a BQ confession we fear will outrage many classic movie fans.....
With few exceptions, (like the the living goddess Gene Tierney), we never cared much for 1940's actresses.......and hardly ever re-watch their films.
Maybe it was the clothes of the era......the clunky shoes, the formidable shoulder-padded dresses, the impossibly complicated hairstyles, frequently topped off with ugly, garish hats.
A matter of personal taste, we guess......but that's just us.
Which brings us to Deanna Durbin, the legendary American Sweetheart, wildly popular and much beloved by movie audiences and world leaders from Winston Churchill to Benito Mussolini.......
Another true confession......this is the first Durbin movie we've ever seen in her triumphant 12 year film career of 22 feature films. Longing for the anonymity of a private life, she walked away from Hollywood at age 27, leaving behind a vast amount of devoted fans.
In Durbin's visible discomfort with movie super-stardom, we think we understand the very core of her appeal.......
She really and truly was the girl next door America envisioned........good natured, polite, pretty without being intimidatingly beautiful and gifted with a trilling soprano voice suitable for Sunday afternoon recitals in the family living room.
We've only seen this one film to judge her on, but from everything we've read, her work in "Lady On A Train" typified her performances......in that she pleasantly wandered through her movies like a prom queen starring in her high school musical......who seemed to have a good enough time but couldn't wait to be somewhere else.
She reigned as Universal Studio's rival sweetheart to MGM's resident cutie-pie Judy Garland......but unlike the much troubled Garland, a born performer with aching vulnerability, the calm, collected practical Durbin gave just enough of herself to entertain the crowds while envisioning a life outside the spotlight.
And "Lady On A Train"? It functions well as a lighter-than-air, breezy comedy mystery that casts Durbin as a society heiress who witnesses the murder of a wealthy industrialist.........and then conducts a slapstick, amateur night investigation of the victim's family with the help of a befuddled mystery novelist. (David Bruce)
Most of the time, it's plenty of fun, with all the expected snappy patter and gags, except when it's forced to come to a grinding halt to let Durbin warble some tunes....(including, strangely, a rendition of "Silent Night sung into a phone....)
And with the mystery solved and the killer revealed (something of a funny twist, considering who's cast in the role), Durbin's married to Bruce, with the ever so subtle, understated promise of actual sex (!)......but unlike the final suggestive train shot in "North By Northwest", the train in "Lady On A Train" does not go rocketing into a tunnel.....hey, come on.....it's a frickin' Deanna Durbin movie after all.....
After a few more films, Durbin bid farewell to the movies and never looked back.
We honestly can't say this was the grievous loss of a great talent.......and nothing in 'Lady On A Train', a passible, 2 & 1/2 star (**1/2) trifle, would give us the slightest interest in watching any other of Durbin's films.
With, as far we could tell, minimal effort, she did entertained millions.......and in true show biz style, left them wanting more that she was no longer prepared to give.
Deanna......we hardly knew ye.....
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