User Reviews

A really fun, sadly neglected comedy starring Dean Martin. Martin attempts to help out pal Eli Wallach when he believes Wallach's mistress is cheating on him. Through a case of mistaken identity (and more than one comic blunder by Martin), Martin ends up with resourceful career girl Stella Stevens. It's as frothy as they come and very entertaining. Martin is perfect and has great chemistry with the fetching Stevens. Wallach is priceless as he tries to justify his infidelities. Director Fielder Cook keeps things moving at breakneck speed and the script by Nat Monaster and Stanley Shapiro is full of a lot of great one-liners. A clever comedy with a an unusually strong supporting cast including Anne Jackson, Betty Field, Jack Albertson and George Furth.

Yes, there are some lecherous men here and women who tolerate the oglng and pick up attempts without visits to HR (known back then as the personnel department) or a slap across the face, but the film overall shows the silliness of that type of courtship, giving leading lady Stella Stevens the last laugh. She has to put up with hiring manager Alan Oppenheimer who makes a pass at her and gets rejected, getting the promotion straight from the big boss, Dean Martin. The shot of Oppenheimer watching into the personnel office seriously after finding out what happens is certainly the perfect visual revenge. Martin is obviously a bit of a playboy, but Steven makes it clear that she's not going to be his playgirl.

This is colorful and lightly amusing if not downright hysterically funny, and Martin and Stevens certainly are a very attractive couple. I couldn't see this as a vehicle for Rock Hudson and Doris Day at all, or James Garner and Debbie Reynolds, or Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. Stevens has the youth and vitality, and Martin is charming and a perfect player. Anne Jackson, as the next door neighbor, is great in a Thelma Ritter type role, and Shelley Morrison definitely is playing an Eve Arden/Nita Talbot type part. Other major parts are played by Eli Wallach and Jack Albertson, giving this a terrific ensemble. Betty Field has a nice small role has another tenant in Stevens' building.

This is a light-hearted look at relationships in the 1960's, and the two stars have a nice chemistry. Under the direction of Fielder Cook, this is an amusing distraction, definitely a product of its time but certainly glamorous and classy, if not overly funny. Yes, there are a few moments that are laugh-out-loud funny, particularly Stevens' encounter with a man at the grave of his mother-in-law, and a few moments with some very funny pratfalls. There were a lot of other sexually charged romantic comedies at the time, some better but mostly worse. Stevens definitely seems to be emulating Marilyn Monroe in looks, if not personality.

David Sloane (Dean Martin) is an confirmed bachelor. However, he's worried about the marriage of his friend Harry Hunter (Eli Wallach), who is having an affair. So David decides to steal away his friend's mistress, thinking that it's his employee Carol (Stella Stevens, in a part originally intended for Marilyn Monroe; by doing this movie, Jerry Lewis refused to speak to Stevens for nearly twenty years).

Yet he has the wrong woman - it's really Carol's neighbor Muriel (Anne Jackson, who in real life was the wife of Wallach). You can just bet that hijinks ensue, especially when the mistresses begin to engage in collective bargaining agreements.

So yeah - these old Dean Martin sex comedies are beyond dated, but to me, they're something akin to eating the junkiest of junk food on a snow day. They remind me of watching movies on old UHF channels in the 70s, lying under a blanket and wondering what it'd be like to be a grown-up. Hey little kid me - it stinks. Just watch Dean Martin movies and never grow up

Fielder Cook, who directed this movie, also was behind the 1971 TV movie The Homecoming: A Christmas Story, which let to the series The Waltons. It was written by Stanley Shapiro, who also wrote Pillow Talk and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

Toddling in at the tail end of the cycle of "chaste" sex comedies popularized by Doris Day, this installment has several things working in its favor and a few things not. Martin plays a confirmed bachelor whose friend Wallach is carrying on an affair with a woman (Jackson) who is the caring and nurturing antithesis of his needling and superficial wife Bard. In an effort to save the marriage, Martin decides he will seduce the lover and break up the affair, but, due to some contrived circumstances (nearly always the case in films of this ilk), he winds up cavorting with the wrong girl! Stevens is the curvaceous doll that Martin mistakenly targets and it leads to any number of complications and misunderstandings. Martin is decent here, easily bringing more energy and commitment to the role than he had been in other films of this era (such as the Matt Helm frolics, one of which counted Stevens as a co-star.) Stevens gives her all to her role. To say that she is luscious is akin to saying that golf courses contain a small amount of green. She not only looks amazing in her various, snug, Moss Mabry creations, but she turns in an astute and captivating performance. Wallach, who typically worked in pictures far more serious than this, gives an interesting performance. Jackson gets rather short shrift, with the bulk of the attention and close-ups going to Stevens, though she manages to play her role effectively. Ironically, these two actors playing illicit lovers were, in fact, married in real life at the time! (They still are as of this writing, making them one of Hollywood's more successful unions.) A number of stalwart character actors turn up in support. Field plays a knowing landlady who's lines vary in quality, but all of which are given as much spin as she can muster. Albertson (who would reunite with Stevens for "The Poseidon Adventure" a couple of years later) plays a kindly neighbor. Oppenheimer is a lascivious office manager who helps to get the ball of misunderstandings rolling and Furth is a drippy date of Stevens. Fans of "Will & Grace" will enjoy spotting Morrison in the beginning as Stevens' sassy co-worker. The film has that unmistakable crisp, clean quality of mid-to-late 60's Hollywood with the almost sterile sets and the well-tailored clothes. (Stevens wears a jacket in her first scene that seems awfully difficult and elaborate for a single woman to be dealing with!) The music, apart from the credits number crooned by The Ray Conniff Singers, is not among Michel Legrand's more memorable efforts. Unfortunately, the script and story are not only more than a little dated and almost offensive in the presentation of gender roles, but also the endless contrivances and coincidences threaten to make the entire film become tedious. It's only the goodwill mustered up by Stevens and a few of her co-stars that saves the film from being a trite exercise in idiocy. Fans of hers owe it to themselves to see one of her most significant screen roles and to revel in her extreme loveliness. Others may find themselves losing interest as the rather silly plot meanders toward its conclusion.

As a huge fan of Dean Martin, this has long been one of my favorite Dino pics. And the pairing of Dean and Stella is just perfect.

Dean Martin plays an executive type who is best friends with Eli Wallach, a department store executive. Wallach is having an affair, and Dean advises him to go back to his wife. Dean sets out to prove that the lady Wallach is having an affair with is a pure and simple opportunist. Meanwhile, Dean mistakenly thinks Stella Stevens is the woman Wallach is having an affair with; she works in the department store Wallach owns. Instead, he is having an affair with Anne Jackson, who is every bit the wonderful woman Wallach thinks she is. Through a series of misunderstandings, Wallach comes to believe Dean's advice and dumps Jackson and goes on an ill-fated trip with his wife. Dean and Stella Stevens get wrapped up in a fake affair that starts with Dean trying to prove she is unworthy to be Wallach's mistress. Of course we know that Dean and Stella, and Wallach and Jackson will live happily ever after, but it's a great trip to see how that comes about.

While this was written by Stanley Shapiro, who wrote 3 of Doris Day's biggest hit films, I don't see this as a Doris Day/Rock Hudson type picture, although admittedly there are some similarities. Dean had a very different persona than Hudson, and this film required a male lead who could play things tongue in cheek...and Dean does to the max. Doris Day was usually somewhat sophisticated in her films, but Stella Stevens plays her role as an almost simple woman (not dumb, just totally uncomplicated, and rather unsophisticated...but not in a manner-less way); and Stevens plays it brilliantly, perhaps making this one of her best roles.

I've never quite decided on whether or not this was a good role for Eli Wallach. It certainly is a different role for him. I wouldn't say he has comedic talent, but perhaps it needed to be played straight. Anne Jackson -- Wallach's real-life wife -- is great as the mistress. Betty Field has some good scenes as an older mistress (now alone) living in the same building. It's nice to see Jack Albertson as something other than the man in "Chico And The Man". Alan Oppenheimer has a very funny stint as a store manager who likes to seduce female sales associates.

This is a very cleverly written movie, with nary a non-funny scene throughout! Excellent dialog that leads to tons of misunderstandings. A lesser writer than Shapiro couldn't have come up with such a complicated and thoroughly humorous script without missing a few beats...but no beats are missed here! Most of Dean's movies get a "7" rating from me, but this one is good enough (if you like drawing room comedies) for me to give it an "8".

This is one of the most cleverly crafted comedies of all time. Much of it is subtlety, but a lot also is cultural. The writers managed to tuck even arcane bits of humor into niches here and there. Some of it would be considered corny by itself. But included in this masterfully whimsical plot it adds to the overall humor. Innuendo, clichés, stereotypes, metaphors and family lore are wrapped into this package to make a truly outstanding comedy. "How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life" takes some gentle pokes at aspects of culture and society. Morticians, lawyers, retail managers, divorcees, the men's club set, spoiled socialites and others receive barbs. But all of that is folded into a plot that is fairly simple and straightforward, except for a case of mistaken identity.

Most of the credit for this film has to go to the screenplay and the writers, Stanley Shapiro and Nate Monaster. Shapiro also produced the film. The two had worked on a couple of comedies together, and separately wrote some of the top comedy films and TV programs of the 1950s through 1970s. Shapiro won an Oscar for best screenplay in 1959, for "Pillow Talk." It was the first of three smash hits he wrote that starred Doris Day and Rock Hudson. He wrote comedy for films that starred Cary Grant, Michael Caine, Steve Martin, David Niven, Charles Boyer and Marlon Brando. He produced some of the best of the 25 films for which he wrote screenplays. He also wrote novels. His last great comedy film was "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" of 1988 – one of the funniest films of all time.

The cast for this film mostly is very good, and the kudos for the writers isn't to diminish the contributions of the cast. Other reviewers have noted that this was the type of film that might see Rock Hudson and Doris Day in the leads. Well, there you have the connection with Stanley Shapiro's writing. The very best performances in the film, clearly are those of Eli Wallach as Harry Hunter, and Anne Jackson as Muriel Laszlo. They were married in real life for 66 years at the time of his death in 2014. Other supporting cast are very good, especially Jack Albertson as Mr. Slotkin and Betty Field as Thelma. Stella Sevens is good as Carol Corman and Dean Martin is fair as David Sloane. Martin's facial expressions seem too contrived and manipulated. He was better at slapstick and one-liners. If this film were 20 years earlier, I could see Cary Grant and Irene Dunne bringing down the house in the lead roles. Or, 10 years before then, perhaps William Powell and Myrna Loy or another more ingénue type of the period.

"How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life" has a straightforward plot. A store owner has a mistress. When the wife suspects after two years she goes to their mutual friend, a bachelor who was best man at their wedding. She tells him she's going for a divorce. He says he can't believe it of his friend, and he'll check it out. When he finds out it's true, he sets out to save the marriage. But not by trying to reconcile the couple. He wants to expose the mistress whom he's sure is a gold-digger.

Several other details have a bearing on and change this from a simple to a convoluted affair. We in the audience are on to the details all along, but none of the cast are. The store owner's wife has been living the life of high society and has become a constant nag and critic of hard-working hubby. He met a woman who has had a rough life but has weathered it with an uplifting and charitable spirit. A vengeful, lusting store personnel manager starts a rumor about the boss having a mistress. The friend hears that it's known and all of them have the wrong woman. The young woman who wouldn't go out with the lecherous personnel director is the picture of purity and wholesomeness. She helps a friend by dropping off a delivery one night on her way to her French lessons. The store boss answers the door.

One of the funniest scenarios happens a couple of scenes apart. Harry Hunter (Eli Wallach) gives the background of his mistress. She's a courageous woman who came through a hard life of alcoholic father, orphanage, etc. Later, David Sloane is with Carol, whom he mistakenly thinks is the mistress, and he asks about her background. He is dumbfounded when she rattles off her wholesome, all-American heritage from pioneer stock and happy upbringing. The description of her family members will have you in stitches.

This is one funny movie with many lines of comedy. Check the Quotes section under this IMDb Web page of the film for more comedy. Here are some samples.

Muriel, "When he comes home at night and he's quiet and you ask him what's wrong, and he says, 'Nothing,' never say, 'What do you mean, nothing?' Because he doesn't mean nothing. It's something. If he really had nothing on his mind, he'd tell you all about it."

Harry, "How do you describe a saint?" David, "Usually, they're dead. Now a saint she ain't. So tell me a few of her mortal qualities."

Harry, pointing to a big shaggy dog in his station wagon, "Mary's mother gave that to me as a present. She trained it. She would show it photos of me and say, 'Kill! Kill!'" David, "Harry, cradle the affectionate little creature in your arms. Add a wing to your house so Mary's mother can be with you forever." Harry, "Will you roll up your sleeves so I can see the needle marks?"

This film is sophisticated. That is it doesn't have teens, sex or gore. What it does have is fantastic writing that ties up all the loose ends. You have to listen closely because the witticisms come in a hurried staccato. Turn away and you might miss something. The pencils. The picket sign Martin carries. The hobos. The folk songs. Muriels thesis on what men think about. At the end guess what happens...a happy ending. That's novel isn't it? We should have a wake for great writing. It's been dead for years. Stella Stevens would have been a star in the old studio system she deserved to be. She plays a good, kind, smart, sexy woman. Dean displays his very natural charm. Wallich is great as an imperfect good man.