LADY ON A TRAIN

 

As murder-comedies go "Lady on a Train" is certainly one of the best, if also one of the least known. It's a Deanna Durbin vehicle, (yes, she sings and charmingly), and a screwball comedy of the first rank, (the supporting cast includes Edward Everett Horton, Elizabeth Patterson and, although he gets star billing, Ralph Bellamy in a relatively small role, at least for him).

Deanna is the lady on the train who, like Miss Marple, sees a murder from the train window and sets out, like the scatterbrain amateur detective she is, to solve the case aided and abetted by crime novelist David Bruce (excellent). Throw in the likes of Dan Duryea, George Coulouris and Allen Jenkins as suitably shady characters and it's anybody's guess who the killer might be. More than just a guilty pleasure this Charles David directed movie is a little gem that is well worth seeking out.