The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker

Synopsis

The story mainly deals with the crumbling marriage of William Alren (Richard Benjamin) and his wife Lisa (Joanna Shimkus), and how William uses voyeurism and extra-marital affairs to "spice up" his marriage. William gives up his career as a stockbroker, and takes up voyeurism full-time.

After putting up with her husband's various dalliances, Lisa is advised by her outspoken sister Nan (Elizabeth Ashley) to get a divorce. Nan's own marriage to Chester (Adam West) is in no better shape than Lisa's and equally on the rocks. The film ends with William and Lisa reunited, but not before Lisa finally gets "revenge" on her husband.

Critical reception

Critic Leonard Maltin felt that while the film was a "humorous and sad depiction of marital breakdown," the cast was let down by a script that "seems uncertain as to what point it wants to drive across" (Maltin, 1991: 769). Steven Scheuer concurred somewhat, saying that while the film was "occasionally amusing" it also tended to be "generally heavy-handed" (Scheuer, 1990: 672).

Roger Greenspun generally found the picture to be miscast, especially Richard Benjamin, feeling that while he is "a good comedian [he is] miscast [in this role]" (Greenspun, 1971). He also thought it closer to an "unsuccessful television pilot" than a movie, in terms of its treatment of themes such as "sexual mechanics, the mechanics of marital supremacy, [and] the nuclear family as a machine for getting on in the suburbs" (Greenspun, 1971). Leslie Halliwell called it a "sardonic adult comedy of the battle of the sexes" (Halliwell, 2000: 522).