Lady on a Train (1945)

I'm convinced this would have broken into the canon of Christmas classics were it not for one extremely racist line of dialogue about eleven minutes into the movie. And, to be clear, the line in question (delivered as both a joke and a character beat) is quite offensive. War or no war, the line was bad then and is certainly bad now. The irony is other than that one joke, the movie holds up remarkably well in virtually every respect. It's a comedic Christmas murder mystery in the vein of The Thin Man starring Deanna Durbin as a fan of the mystery genre who jumps at the chance to investigate a murder she partially witnesses from the window of a train.

The tone is closer to that of an adventure comedy than a noir, though it occasionally borrows stylistic embellishments from the genre it's poking fun at. If you took my advice a few years ago and watched Mystery of the Wax Museum, this strikes an similar balance between homage and parody (Durbin's character is also reminiscent of Glenda Farrell's proto-Lois Lane investigator in that movie). In addition, unlike The Thin Man, this shares Mystery of the Wax Museum's focus on its female lead as the movie's protagonist. Durbin's Nicki is prone to leaping before she looks, but she's quick-witted and much more capable than you usually see from characters women portrayed in this era. The supporting cast of male characters spend the movie trying to keep up, with the exception of the cops (who spend most of the movie too oblivious to realize they should even be trying).

Like I said, this really holds up aside from that one bad joke.

After realizing she'll get no help from the police, Nicki enlists Wayne, her favorite author (played by David Bruce), who spends most of the first half trying not to help her before realizing she's right about the murder (and besides, Nicki's adventure is way more fun than anything else he has going on). He's the first of several potential love interests, a pool of characters that eventually includes Arnold and Jonathan (Dan Duryea and Ralph Bellamy), relatives of the murder victim who initially mistake her for Margo, a singer the late tycoon willed his fortune to. Rather than correct the error, Nicki leverages her new identity to gain information. This of course complicates matters when she winds up at the club the real Margo (Maria Palmer) performs in.

The movie hurls new complications, characters, and plot twists at the audience. It's all very silly (and intentionally so). The mystery itself doesn't much matter - the selling point here is the juggling act Nicki's performing as she shifts from singing to investigating to trying to sneak key pieces of evidence out of the club without getting killed herself, all the while not really knowing who's behind what. But the character always seems to be having fun with the whole thing, at least until the inevitable showdown with the actual killer late in the film.

It's Jonathan, by the way, though this twist is revealed in such a way it could just as easily have been Arnold. By then, there are several other victims, Nicki and Wayne have been arrested and released, and everything's even more complicated than before. Jonathan is about to kill Nicki when Arnold saves her. Then Wayne shows up, misinterprets the situation, and accidentally helps Jonathan gain the upper hand. Jonathan's about to kill the three of them when Wayne reveals he led the police to the scene, and they arrest Arnold (it's actually pretty refreshing to see one of these end without a cliche shoot out).

A quick epilogue shows Nicki and Wayne married, starting their honeymoon on a train. I'd have preferred an ending where she stayed single, but it's still a fun beat to wrap things up on.

I should also mention the presence of Haskell, an employee of Nicki's wealthy father assigned to watch over her (I lost count of the number of times she managed to outmaneuver him). He's played by Edward Everett Horton, who was in Pocketful of Miracles, both versions of Holiday, at least one other Christmas movie on my watchlist, and some iconic non-Christmas films, including Arsenic and Old Lace, Here Comes Mr. Jordan, and Design for Living. I keep seeing Horton pop up in old movies I'm watching, and his presence is always appreciated.

Speaking of connections, Deanna Durbin was in the holiday noir, Christmas Holiday, the year before Lady on a Train. Wikipedia claims both were part of an effort to showcase her range. If so, it works: the two films couldn't be more different in tone, and she's great in both. 

The holiday elements are mostly focused in the first half, though - with the exception of the epilogue - the entire movie is set around Christmas. The movie liberally shows snowy streets and holiday decorations. For the most part, the holidays seem to be present to keep the mood light and fun, though there's a sequence in the victim's study where they take on a somewhat eerie subtext. While this isn't where he was murdered, it's the location where an accidental death was staged below a Christmas tree he was supposedly decorating.

There's also a sequence on Christmas Eve where Durbin sings Silent Night over the phone to her father. Aspects of this sequence feel a little dated - the camera spends a large amount of time just hanging over her as she sings. Even Silent Night could have used more energy. Unbeknownst to Nicki, a hired goon is hiding out of sight with orders to steal back evidence she's acquired. When the song ends, the camera cuts to him, revealing the song has brought him to tears. It's an obvious gag, but a good one.

The holidays don't do much beyond setting the tone, but they permeate the movie to enough of a degree to leave a strong impression. This isn't the sort of movie you're likely to forget was set at Christmas.

Silent Night was the only Christmas song Nicki sang, but she performed two other songs while masquerading as Margo in the club. The movie did a good job using the music to enhance tone and - in the case of the other two - plant the notion that Nicki was shifting from playing the field to settling on Wayne. Whether three diegetic songs are enough to cross into "musical" territory is an open question, but it's certainly a choice you don't see in most modern movies.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one. If you're a fan of The Thin Man and similar romantic mystery/comedies, this is well worth checking out. Naturally, that assumes the racist joke isn't a deal-breaker for you. It's a particularly frustrating moment, because the movie does such a good job delivering a female protagonist who's brilliant and effective, while at the same time being flawed and a bit bumbling. Durbin's comedic heroine holds up, which is rare for this era. I really enjoyed this, aside from that one bad joke.