All in a Night's Work

This is one of the funniest films ever made (in my opinion). To not give away too much for those who have not seen it, this mistaken identity farce has Dean Martin, various character actors, and especially, Shirley MacLaine, in fine form. It is one of those rare films that one can watch time after time, and never get bored with. And don't forget, 'Oh Mr Ryder!'

Shirley MacLaine was at her most fresh and unaffected when she went straight from 'The Apartment' to this breezily amoral piece of fluff (set in New York but never actually leaving the studio) which features familiar faces old and new (Charles Ruggles plays Cliff Robertson's father, for example), and reunites her with her fellow Rat Packer and co-star from 'Some Came Running' Dean Martin (there's even a joke about Frank Sinatra); in which she's seen sprinting from a hotel bedroom wearing only a turkish towl for the most innocent but unlikely of reasons.

The image and likeness of Charles Evans as Martin's uncle the late Colonel Ryder - author of the immortal lines "Love is like a wild volcano, seething with dark desire" - dominates the entire film but he's as usual uncredited (although since he begins the film as a corpse he admittedly doesn't have a speaking part).

(At the film's conclusion yet again a bugging device produced clearer sound over sixty years ago than 21st century technology would be capable of today.)

Dean Martin and Shirley MacLaine are teamed in a charming romantic comedy reminiscent of the Day/Huson outings. Martin is the playboy heir to a family fortune, who owes his life to MacLaine, who saves him from drowning in a swimming pool. A series of coincidences make everyone believe the young beauty was "involved" with Martin's rich uncle, who mysteriously passed on in his hotel room. Who can blame anyone's wicked thoughts, when MacLaine apparently escaped the old millionaire's room wearing nothing but a bath towel.

This is pure Hollywood fun, complete with that special dose of naughtiness, briefly popular during the early 60s, until that sort of comedy was again frowned upon as tasteless. Enjoy the two Rat-Packers (Martin and MacLaine) in a bit of lavish escapism from Paramount Studio's Golden Age!

No where near as funny as I was expecting but it was maybe intended as being a "sophisticated comedy" at the time it was made. An amusing plot which the script failed to make the best of with the performances of the two leading actors being a bit lacklustre. Still worth a watch however.

No classic but this Joseph Anthony directed romantic comedy is genuinely funny and really deserves to be better known. Dean Martin is at his suave best as the playboy who inherits his uncle's publishing empire after his uncle is found dead in bed with a smile on his face and a girl's earring on the floor and Shirley MacLaine exudes star quality as the girl whose earring it was. Of course, she's totally blameless and as sweet as they come and engaged to Cliff Robertson's vet. Sharply, and very wittily, scripted by Edmund Beloin, Maurice Richlin and Sidney Sheldon from Owen Elford's play, "All in a Night's Work" is a real treat with a first-rate supporting cast that includes Charlie Ruggles, Jerome Cowan, Jack Weston and the great Gale Gordon. Made in 1961, it could just as easily have come out twenty-five years earlier with Cary Grant and Jean Arthur in the Martin/MacLaine roles and Ralph Bellamy as the vet. Hardly ever revived, it's well worth seeking out.