Les inséparables

"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

Complications arise after an unhappily married couple are "accidentally" divorced whilst on their second honeymoon in this amiable comedy with echoes of Hitchcock's 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith'. The film takes quite a while to build up to the "accident" and the resulting humour is hit and miss, but a perfectly cast Deborah Kerr and Frank Sinatra keep the film afloat. Both were well past 40 at the time and they capture two complete flip-sides well; Sinatra has become complacent, all too settled into life, whereas a high-strung Kerr is in the midst of a midlife crisis, worried by the very certainties that Sinatra finds comfort in. The supporting characters are not terribly interesting; as his best friend, Dean Martin is too much the polar opposite of Sinatra and while John McGiver, Cesar Romero and Hermione Baddeley have their good bits, they never register strongly. Martin's bachelor pad is something else though, and -- alongside the likes of 'Under the Yum Yum Tree' -- it is a testament to the imaginativeness of early '60s interior decoration with jutting stone walls, several indoor plants and a fireplace in the centre of the living room. The nightclub sets are nifty too. Of course, excellent sets alone are not reason enough to watch a motion picture, but they are certainly an extra delight in this big screen showcase for Kerr's comedic talents. Her very proper and refined British vocal mannerisms render her indignation all the more amusing, and imperfect as the film may well be, it certainly offers an acute look at a middle aged couple both learning to reevaluate what they want in life.

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 Ol' Blue Eyes. It quickly becomes apparent his heart isn't in this...and how could it be, really, with such a leaden script? Although plush and well-produced, the movie is just a throwaway--a shame since the premise did have some interesting possibilities. Nancy Sinatra (barely out of her teens) and Tony Bill add some appeal as the youngsters in love, but the rest is a snooze. Happy Hour for the Rat Pack is over...closing time, guys! *1/2 from ****

This movie stars Deborah Kerr, one of the greatest actresses in history. She was nominated for Academy Awards six times and should have been nominated a few more times. I just saw her in "Night of the Iguana," and I thought that was another performance she should have gotten an academy award nomination for. I have never seen her give a bad performance. She gives a charming and funny performance here, keeping the movie together. Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin are spotty, good in some scenes, not-so-good in others.Sinatra is mostly sleepwalking, with Martin occasionally giving some funny lines, but Sinatra doing one-take -- let me out of here,is it 5 o'clock yet -- readings.

This could have been a good movie. There are a couple of ways they could have gone with it. First, they could have turned it into a real musical. They already had two of the greatest singers of the time and Deborah Kerr who had starred in "The King and I". How hard would it have been to hire a couple of songwriters to knock out eight songs and get a choreographer to stage a few numbers. This would have added some energy to the slow,plot.

Okay, if they didn't want to turn is into a musical, they could have made it into a more realistic comedy. In the movie, Deborah is tired of her marriage to dull Frank and wants to marry swinging Dean. Fine, lets do it. Only in the movie, Deborah gets a fake divorce from Frank and a fake marriage to Dean. This is silly, not funny. In order for the movie to work, the divorce and marriage had to be real. This would, no doubt, have made Frank really sad, and not just pretend sad, as in the film, but that would have made us care about him. Because it is not a real divorce, and Frank and Deborah's marriage isn't really threatened, nor is Frank and Dean's friendship, there is no intensity to the film.

Divorce is a painful process. The filmmakers, and, I suspect, Frank Sinatra, didn't want any of that pain in the film. They just wanted a breezy comedy. Unfortunately, fake pain from a fake divorce does not equal comedy. Slipping on a banana peel is funny, faking slipping on a banana peel is not.

Most of the film is hit and miss. Joi Lansing as Dean's curvy secretary was funny. Having 21 year old Davey Davison as a Go-Go dancer lusting after 49 year old Frank was not.

You know the direction is not very good when you have Nancy Sinatra playing a scene as Frank Sinatra's daughter and you're convinced by the end of the scene that they have never met each before.

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.