Il a suffi d'une nuit

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.)

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.

.Dean Martin really goes out on a limb (eye roll) and portrays a playboy named Tony Ryder..am I crazy or are all 60's comedy playboy leads given names like that? Or maybe Chad Stone? Anyway, Martin is the only relative of a wealthy publishing czar, so when his rich uncle dies in a Florida hotel he inherits the mega-million dollar business. There's just one problem: hotel detective Jack Weston tells him that he saw a woman in a towel running from uncle's room..and she dropped a unique earring with a Chinese symbol on her way out.

The typical board--all old white guys who only want to keep their cu$hy jobs, are convinced the empire of 'family friendly' magazines would be hurt if such a scandal was uncovered, so they hire Weston to find the woman and offer her a nice sum for a nice NDA. It turns out it's no coincidence that Shirley MacLaine (a researcher at the company) was in Florida too..in that hotel..and yes, in uncle's room. MacLaine ended up in there while escaping the advances of another old wealthy fellow after she saved him from drowning, but has no idea she's the elusive mystery woman. When she sobs loudly at the funeral while wearing the same suspect earrings, the board and Martin are convinced everything she does and says is to extract hush money from them..while she remains clueless to their attention.

Added to the mix are her conservative veterinarian fiancé, Cliff Robertson, and his judgmental mother Mabel Anderson and dad Charles Ruggles. One of the better scenes is watching Ruggles and MacLaine get tipsy at a restaurant, singing and dancing..much to the chagrin of mother and son. If you don't know how the movie is going to end, you haven't seen enough 60's rom-coms. It's the formula of mistaken identity/misunderstandings, but even with a good cast, this one falls below the Doris/Rock offerings in the genre. A nice little diversion, but nothing special

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!

The film is OK because it has two leads with great chemistry, the Technicolor is delightful and ultimately it's harmless fun to view on a dark rainy night if you are stuck for something to watch. But really the picture doesn't add up to anything outside of a time filler. Based around the Owen Elford play, it has a couple of decent sequences; witness Dean Martin at the vets and Shirley MacLaine trying to keep her modesty as she escapes from a hotel room, but the sense of cramming gags in for gags sake hinders the flow of the picture.

Both Dean Martin & Shirley MacLaine are fine here, both handsome in equal measure, while Cliff Robertson stands out a mile from the rest of the supporting cast, yet in truth, as Rom-Coms from the 60s go, this is way down on the list of must sees for prospective watchers of the genre persuasion. 4/10