How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life (1968)

Pretty Good

Fresh and Exciting

As Good As It Gets

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

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".

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.

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.

Let me confess from the outset that I'm a huge Dean Martin fan, so I was predisposed to like this film. However, I still wasn't prepared for this film to be so delightfully amusing. I truly don't understand the low rating. My only guess is, the people who gave this movie such low marks just aren't the right viewers for this kind of a film. "How To Save A Marriage" is very much like the Doris Day/Rock Hudson films (Pillow Talk & Lover Come Back). Those films don't appeal to everyone - usually either you love them or you hate them. If you loved those films, you will love this one, as well. Dean Martin plays a man who mistakes Stella Stevens' character for his best friend's mistress. Of course, Dean plays the eternal ladies man and Stella Stevens is the nice, small town girl trying her luck in the big city. Hilarious complications ensue when Dean finds it necessary to romance her himself for the good of his friend's marriage (thus, the title). If you get the opportunity to see this (and it is quite hard to find, which perhaps also explains the low rating), you really should give it a chance. It's a wonderful romantic comedy and, aside from his Rat Pack films, one of my favorite of Dean Martin's solo ventures.