All In A Night’s Work (1961)

In All In A Night’s Work, devoted corporate researcher and union representative Shirley MacLaine learns that hard work and the principles of organized labor can only take working women so far—particularly those afflicted with plot-thickening character quirks and a tendency to become involved in wacky mishaps. After MacLaine returns from a Florida vacation, during which a good deed gone awry places her in the room of a dead publishing magnate, which leads her to a panicked, towel-clad run through a fancy hotel, she begins to question both her impending marriage to a mild-mannered veterinarian (Cliff Robertson) and her ability to negotiate a new contract with boss Dean Martin. Martin, as it turns out, is the hard-drinking playboy nephew of the dead man in the hotel room. Though eager to prove his leadership skills, he discovers that his abilities might be compromised when he becomes smitten with MacLaine. Then the plot grows really complicated. Having left an earring behind at the scene of Martin’s uncle’s death, MacLaine becomes a suspect in an imagined blackmail plot, a notion seemingly confirmed when she breaks into hysterics at the uncle’s funeral and begins sporting a mink coat sent by a spurned admirer. This doesn’t sit well with her straitlaced future in-laws, and it prompts Martin to begin furtively taping her conversations. But love will find a way, albeit occasionally in the form of sexual harassment. Invited to Martin’s apartment to talk matters over, MacLaine finds it difficult to resist his aggressive pursuit, even as half the cast piles into his bachelor pad. After a few cocktails, everyone walks away much happier than before.