Themes: Foibles of Marriage, Faltering Friendships
Main Cast: Frank Sinatra, Deborah Kerr, Dean Martin, Cesar Romero, Hermione Baddeley
Release Year: 1965
Country: US
Run Time: 109 minutes
Plot
A couple's marriage is nearly destroyed by their attempts to save it in this farcical comedy. Dan and Valerie Edwards (Frank Sinatra and Deborah Kerr) are a couple who have been married for close to 20 years. Dan, a busy but successful advertising executive, believes they have a happy relationship, but Valerie feels stifled and thinks her once fun-loving husband has become a bore. Valerie consults a lawyer, Shad Nathan (John McGiver), about a divorce, but Nathan suggests she give things one more try, and recommends a romantic second honeymoon to put the spark back in their relationship. Following his advice, Valerie books a vacation in Mexico; Dan agrees to join her, but once they arrive south of the border, they encounter Miguel Santos (Cesar Romero), an overzealous shyster lawyer who grants them a divorce before they're entirely aware of what's happening. Dan and Valerie take the matter in stride and decide to use it as an opportunity to renew their vows, but just prior to their ceremony, Dan is called away on business. Dan asks his best friend, Ernie Brewer (Dean Martin), a devil-may-care ladies' man, to keep Valerie company until he gets back; however, as Ernie tries to explain to Valerie and Miguel that the wedding is off, he finds he's just become Valerie's new husband. Valerie, angry at Dan's sudden disappearance, decides not to divorce Ernie right away, while Ernie, who has long been infatuated with Valerie, is torn between his feelings for her and his loyalty to Dan. Marriage on the Rocks also features guest appearances by Nancy Sinatra and Trini Lopez; keep an eye peeled for DeForest Kelley in a bit part. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Watching Marriage on the Rocks, one wonders why Frank Sinatra bothered taking on this project, a question one asks when viewing many 1960s Sinatra films. The actor clearly has no interest in Marriage, other than perhaps a paycheck; while it's true that the part itself is no great shakes, Sinatra could at least try to find the energy to make something of the part. Instead, he drifts lazily through the film, turning in one of his most boring and unaccomplished performances, and hurting a film that already needed a considerable degree of help. Not surprisingly, there's no chemistry between him and Deborah Kerr, who at least attempts to do something with her character. Kerr is fine, but she's not really a natural for this kind of film, unlike Dean Martin, who gives Marriage almost all the life it has. Martin clearly is enjoying himself, and his joy is infectious. It's not great acting, but it's precisely the kind of performing that is needed to get Marriage off the ground and keep it spinning. He can't make the script's contrived, convoluted plotting believable or cause the flat dialogue to sparkle, but he does make things lively. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Marriage on the Rocks is a 1965 movie comedy with Frank Sinatra, Deborah Kerr, and Dean Martin about an ad-agency president who flies to Mexico to celebrate his nineteenth wedding anniversary, but ends up divorced by mistake. The film was written by Cy Howard and directed by Jack Donohue.
