MovieChat Forums > Lady on a Train (1945) Discussion > Anyone rooting for Dan Duryea?

Anyone rooting for Dan Duryea?


I thought Deanna Durbin and Dan Duryea had a lot of chemistry in this movie, and his character was a lot more interesting than the mystery novelist. I was kinda hoping Dan Duryea would get the girl in the end.

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I was.



When there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth...

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Me, too. The character was effective as a red-herring, but as the movie was wrapping up, and we learned that DD's character was NOT the killer , I was expecting at least some little acknowledgement of his eligibility as a potential love interest for Durbin's character). But it never came.



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Grey Fairy / White Wolf

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Gheelnory says > I was expecting at least some little acknowledgement of his eligibility as a potential love interest for Durbin's character). But it never came.
I think it was addressed, though briefly. Arnold Waring seemed to be after one girl then another. He went after Margo, or who he thought was her, and she had been his uncle's mistress. That seemed a bit odd. It also seemed to indicate he was after the money.

Later when he kidnapped Nikki, well, it was to throw us off but from his perspective it seemed as if he was interested in her. If that his way of making a move, it didn't work. The guy was as messed up as the rest of his family. I don't think he would have made a good love interest for Nikki; even a potential one.


Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]

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You make some excellent points here. (But I still think there was a certain amount of chemistry between Durbin and Duryea that may have led many viewers to want a more explicit moment of 'why this can't be'....)

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Grey Fairy / White Wolf

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I guess but he seemed too creepy. Getting involved with him would likely lead to her potentially associating with or even marrying into that strange, greedy family. How can we be sure he didn't have ulterior motives too? From what we know about him, if I were her I would not give him a second thought either. That's just not my type.


Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]

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Yeah the writer was a totally bland, uninteresting fella. As for Duryea... while the "twist" ending concerning the identity of the killer was quite foreseeable on its own terms, Duryea's later career mostly consisting of playing bandits and sleazeballs, probably helped generate a greater deal of surprise than there was originally (I can only think of one good guy role besides this that Duryea played - that was in the 1946 movie Black Angel).



"facts are stupid things" Ronald Reagan

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Since I had seen so many Duryea movies before this one where he always played a sleazeball, I immediately associated him as one as well in this movie. Right or wrong.

And hence, I had no interest whatsoever in seeing him partner up with the wholesome Durbin character.

While the mystery novelist was kind of a goofball, his character came across as clean and wholesome also. So he seemed a much more natural fit for the love interest connection.

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mwmtampa says > Since I had seen so many Duryea movies before this one where he always played a sleazeball, I immediately associated him as one as well in this movie. Right or wrong. And hence, I had no interest whatsoever in seeing him partner up with the wholesome Durbin character.
I know what you mean. Typecasting has ruined many a good movie for me. I spot a certain person in the cast I know they're going to come out okay in the end. There are others I know will probably end up being the villain.

Luckily some directors keep things like that in mind when casting a movie. They'll put several character actors in the movie to keep it from being too obvious but the star is still usually the big name actor who will manage to survive no matter what happens. I can't just blame the film makers because audiences have a hard time accepting certain people in some roles. It's nice to be surprised every now and then.


Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]

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Thanks, and good points.

I think there are two sides to the coin.

To your comment, the occassional surprise that the writer/director throws in a script every now and then with an about face performance by a certain character, can lead to a very interesting and enjoyable twist.

On the other hand, it was always good to follow an actor and be a fan of them because they consistently played a certain type of role. Like a John Wayne as a war hero, or an Errol Flynn as a swashbuckler. And even guys like a Dan Duryea or a John Garfield playing smarmy, maverick character types. They had their bands of fans also.

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Yeah, the writer guy was okay, but Dan should've ended up with the girl in the end.

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