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9 out of 11 people found the following review useful: Marriage Sank Without A Trace, 17 February 2007 Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York
The only reason this film gets as high as four is for all the talent involved. If Frank and Dean had sung in this film it might have rated higher. But the plain fact is that Marriage on the Rocks just ain't that funny.Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin are best friends and partners in an advertising agency. Sinatra is married to Deborah Kerr with two kids and a mother-in-law in the house. Dino is a carefree bachelor and all around swinger and boozer. Basically these two really play themselves so there's no great stretch of any thespian talent.Through an odd combination of circumstances, Sinatra and Kerr whose marriage is going through a rough patch go to Mexico on a second honeymoon and through the machinations of divorce attorney Cesar Romero they get an instant Mexican divorce. Then when Sinatra can't make it back to Mexico, he sends Dino back to pick up Kerr and offer an explanation and Martin winds up married to Kerr. Now their roles are reversed and Martin is now a stepfather to Nancy Sinatra and Michael Petit and Sinatra's having a whale of a good time leading a swinging, ring-a-ding life. Of course all gets righted in the end.We've seen it all before from Frank and Dean. This would be their last joint film appearance for 17 years until Cannonball Run II. Mainly because of the critical roasting this film got. Both of them just walk through the parts here. Dean Martin was just starting his highly successful television series which would be his main venue for the next decade and Frank was doing some very nice television specials around that time. It would have been nice if both of them had sang some more on the big screen, but no more movie singing for them, except for Dino in the first Matt Helm film.In any event the Rat Pack was breaking up as the two of them plus Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Joey Bishop all started doing their own thing more and more.Deborah Kerr looks like she's wondering how she got there with the boys, she certainly doesn't have the right spirit to be a Rat Pack broad like Shirley MacLaine or Angie Dickinson or Barbara Rush.In fact Marriage on the Rocks is one colossal waste of an incredible assembly of talented players.
4 out of 5 people found the following review useful: I loved it!, 1 April 2006 Author: pwtrn01 from United States
I remember watching this movie when I was young.I have watched for it to come on again but I haven't found it yet.I thought it was very funny.It also shows people to appreciate what they have in life,not envy the other person's life. It seemed to me that the cast had fun doing this movie. There are so few movies to watch now that don't have too much graphic sex and violence that I wish more people would watch these older movies. They were extremely funny and could be viewed by the whole family. Laughter is truly the best medicine. It makes you feel good, happy, and decreases stress. I recommend it.Hey out there! Give it a chance with an open mind! You'll enjoy it!
2 out of 2 people found the following review useful: "Why don't you turn on the music and let the little one lead?", 3 October 2005 Author: JoeytheBrit from www.moviemoviesite.com
This light comedy was to be Sinatra and Martin's last big screen appearance together for nearly twenty years, and it's a shame that it turns out to be such a disappointment after a promising start. The duo play unlikely business partners at an advertising agency in this one. Sinatra's character is married to Deborah Kerr, while Martin plays to type as a womanising playboy. Through a series of contrived incidents that take forever to set up, playboy Dino ends up accidentally married to Kerr, freeing Sinatra to enjoy bachelor life with a friend of his daughter's (played by his real-life daughter, Nancy).There are a couple of funny moments in this movie, largely at the expense of Martin and Sinatra, which leads you to believe that you're in for a treat, but when the scene shifts to Mexico things just get progressively sillier until the rushed and largely inconclusive ending, in which the fate of only two of the characters is spelled out.Kerr is an interesting casting decision as the hapless wife, although she acquits herself well. She and Sinatra never really convince as a couple, though. In fact, Sinatra doesn't convince at all – he's simply going through the motions here, which he did a lot in his films from the mid-sixties onwards. Martin, however, steals the film in his tailor-made role, and looks like he's having a lot of fun in that fantasy bachelor pad as he works his way through a succession of 'secretaries' including the quite frankly spectacular Lola (Joi Lansing). All the laughs are in the first half-hour in this one, so if you feel like switching off after that you won't be missing much.
2 out of 2 people found the following review useful: Dean Martin is the highlight of this film, 6 September 2005 Author: Amanda from Grand Rapids, MI
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
It's hard to pinpoint just exactly what's wrong with this film. I think it's a combination of script problems and poor performance, mostly on the part of Frank Sinatra. Sinatra gave great performances in many other films but, as other reviewers pointed out, he seems to be sleep walking through this film, as if he's eager to get a take so he can leave. Nancy Sinatra is young and fresh and gives a sweet performance. Deborah Kerr does her best with what she's been given. Unfortunately, that isn't much. Dean Martin is the highlight of this film. As always, he's fun and charming, and his presence breathes into this film what little life it has. Needless to say, it suffers heavily when he's not on screen and the focus shifts to Sinatra. The plot has many problems. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense but, after all, it's just a film. I could have gone along with the plot, but the main problem is that this film's just plain boring. The basic plot goes something like this: Sinatra and Kerr have been married for 19 years. He ignores her. She complains. At Martin's urging, they go on a second honeymoon in Mexico. Once there, they get in a huge fight, and wind up with a quickie divorce. By the end of the night, both have second thoughts and decide to remarry. However, first Sinatra is called away on business and the wedding must wait until he returns. Martin is Sinatra's best friend and business partner. He leads the free-wheeling life of a swingin' bachelor, dating a bevy of girls but, mainly, his private secretary, Lola. When Sinatra's business detains him longer than expected, he decides not to fly back to Mexico to marry Kerr, who is waiting for him. Instead, he sends Martin (who professes to be an old hand at telling women he's not going to marry them) to break the news to her. In a case of mistaken identity, and before either knows what has happened, Kerr and Martin end up married (the ceremony was in Spanish). He quickly signs annulment/divorce papers, but she refuses to sign, thinking she can use Martin to make Sinatra jealous, and then he'll pay attention to her (Martin & Kerr used to date several years ago). Sinatra finds out her plans and calls her bluff, taking over Martin's pad and dating "Martin's" girls. Kerr acts as if she's mad for Martin and refuses to divorce him. Poor Martin only wants his house, life, and girl friend (whom Sinatra refuses to let him see) back. Sinatra & Kerr's poor children are stuck in between, and Martin is the only one who actually shows some responsibility towards them. Sound confusing and contrived? It is. The ending is incredibly rushed and haphazard. Sinatra & Kerr reunite, but we never get to witness their remarriage. We never get to see if Martin, who is the only one who did nothing wrong, gets his old life back. It's a very disappointing ending that leaves you flat - as this film, in general, does. If you're a fan of Martin's, you'll want to see this just because his performance is so fun, but be prepared to be bored when he's not on screen. For a better Sinatra-Martin pairing try "4 For Texas" or "Robin and the Seven Hoods".
5 out of 8 people found the following review useful: Ring-a-ding-dud, 25 June 2001 Author: moonspinner55 from redlands, ca
It's a marriage merry-go-round when Deborah Kerr rather inadvertently divorces workaholic hubby Frank Sinatra while on vacation in Mexico; when he fails to make things right, she (once again) inadvertently winds up hitched to boozy best friend Dean Martin. Made during the time when films had become second priority to F.S. (Ol' Blue Eyes had earned his Oscar and, with some exceptions, it quickly became a downward spiral for him and the movies). This picture is quite plush and well-produced, but it's just a throwaway--a shame since the premise did have some interesting possibilities. Best part of the flick is Nancy Sinatra (barely out of her teens) and Tony Bill as the youngsters in love. The rest is a snooze. Happy Hour for the Rat Pack was finally over...closin' time guys! ** from ****
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful: Marriage on the Rocks- I'll Drink to that **1/2, 17 May 2008 Author: edwagreen from United States
Tedious Frank Sinatra and Deborah Kerr film. I think they made up for the fact that they had no scenes together 12 years before in "From Here to Eternity."Despite a great cast, the film sags as Frank Sinatra plays a family man who is boring Val (his wife Deborah) after 19 years of marriage. He has a swinging business partner Dean Martin, who was rejected by Val when she married Dan (Sinatra) instead.The picture becomes nonsensical when the couple go to Mexico for a second honeymoon, quarrel and wind up divorced by the unscrupulous Cesar Romero. The laughs begin when the two immediately decide to retie the knot, but when Dan can't join Val, Dino flies into Mexico instead only to wed Val by a Spanish speaking priest instead.The film then deals with the change of roles brought on by this marriage as it affects all 3 characters. You see, Val is hesitant in signing the divorce papers with Dino so that she can remarry Dan.Hermione Baddeley steals the show as Val's Irish Rose of a mother. Nancy Sinatra appears in the worthless role of the daughter of Dan and Val, who is looking to spread her wings with a room-mate and eventually marry nerd psychiatrist Tony Bill. Bill, who was so good as Sinatra's kid brother in "Come Blow Your Horn," has little to do here.The film is good for a couple of laughs but is highly predictable. Also, Kerr is just too British to assume the role of Val.
3 out of 5 people found the following review useful: IT'S A HOOT, 19 July 2002 Author: Janet Morrison (Janet.Morrison3@verizon.net) from USA
I love this movie; wish I could get a video tape of it. It's lite, funny, sad and has wonderful actors/actresses in it. It's a good movie to just sit back and veg out to!. Dean and Frank just ham it up and Deborah Kerr just fits right in and goes along with it. That's what makes it so good!
3 out of 5 people found the following review useful: I DIG SINATRA, BUT THIS FILM'S A DUD, 8 February 1999 Author: Coleen Toews (zombee@primenet.com) from near Washington D.C.
I'VE SEEN MOST OF THE FILMS STARRING OR CO-STARRING FRANK SINATRA - SOME OF THEM ARE TOTAL FILM CLASSICS, MANY ARE GREAT, MOST ARE ENTERTAINING, BUT THIS ONE IS A DUD. FRANK AND PAL, DEAN MARTIN, SEEM TO HAVE BEEN MORE INTERESTED IN BOOZING THAN ACTING, BECAUSE THEY SEEM BARELY AWAKE. NANCY SINATRA DOES A GOOD JOB, BUT EVERYONE ELSE IS A DRAG. THIS IS A SHAME, BECAUSE THE CAST IS MADE UP OF SUPER-TALENTED PEOPLE WHO EITHER OVER-ACT, OR ARE IN A DAZE (SINATRA & DEAN). EVEN THE RAT-PACK FILMS ARE MORE ENTERTAINING THAN THIS ONE.
Ring-a-Ding Don't, 28 September 2009 Author: wesconnorsehny from Earth
"Fuddy-duddy" Frank Sinatra (as Dan Edwards) runs an advertising agency, with "drinking man" Dean Martin (as Ernie Brewer) assisting. Mr. Sinatra thinks housewife Deborah Kerr (as Valerie) is happily married, but she wants a divorce "on the grounds of boredom." Sinatra thinks, "I don't have to be romantic." Ms. Kerr wonders what life would be like if she married Mr. Martin, who romances a succession of busty secretaries. Through a series of misunderstandings, Kerr gets her wish…Sinatra, Kerr, and Martin do not live up to the marquee value of their names. At least, Kerr seems to be alert. Teenage daughter Nancy Sinatra (as Tracy) and Honda hopping son Michael Petit (as David) are much better than the big stars. Boyfriend Tony Bill (Jim Blake) and an able supporting cast help… a little. Strangely enough, Sinatra and Martin sing no songs; instead, their "Reprise" label is represented by Trini Lopez doing "Sinner Man", a minor hit after the film's original release.**** Marriage on the Rocks (9/16/65) Jack Donohue ~ Frank Sinatra, Deborah Kerr, Dean Martin, Nancy Sinatra
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