Marriage on the Rocks 1965

After nineteen years of marriage, Dan Edwards, Frank Sinatra, is a workaholic who runs an ad agency with his laid-back friend Ernie Brewer, Dean Martin. Valerie Edwards, Deborah Kerr, grows increasingly frustrated as she longs for attention, warmth, and shared moments that Dan no longer provides. The kids see Ernie as the fun, worldly uncle who always has a helpful word, a sharp contrast to Dan’s stern, businesslike demeanor. Valerie deeply notices the small acts of affection she’s missing—dances, compliments, and thoughtful gifts—that Dan has stopped offering, and the strain pushes her to seek professional advice about divorce, a line that unsettles everyone around them. Sensing what Dan refuses to admit, Ernie urges his friend to salvage the marriage with something simple and hopeful—a proper second honeymoon to Mexico.

In Mexico, where vows can be swapped as easily as a vacation, the couple’s quarrel erupts in front of Miguel Santos, the resort proprietor, played by Cesar Romero. A swift, impulsive divorce follows, leaving both to reckon with the reality of living apart. Dan, contrite, works to repair the damage and arranges for a remarriage on the spot. Yet a pressing business matter draws him back home, forcing Valerie to wait in Mexico for his return. Ernie travels to explain the muddled situation to her, unaware that Valerie has already begun moving forward with her wedding plans. In a twist of fate, she ends up married to Ernie.

Now Ernie faces an unexpected new life as Valerie’s husband, balancing the novelty with the challenge of a complicated arrangement, and he wonders whether a quick divorce could restore the old order. Valerie, meanwhile, weighs the possibility of embracing this unusual pairing, discovering companionship and a kind of happiness she hadn’t expected. Dan, weary of both his old life and the tangled new one, rediscovers a taste for bachelor freedom, even sharing lighthearted moments with Ernie’s circle of friends. Yet the story circles back toward resolution: misunderstandings are untangled, and the trio moves toward a steadier balance, with a clearer sense of what family and partnership mean and a path back to mutual respect.