One of My Wives Is Missing (1976 TV Movie) User Reviews

Clever Little Thriller - A "What Is Going On" Mystery

[theowinthrop · 8/10 · 18 December 2007]

This film (which was remade in 1986) is a very clever little crime drama that keeps the viewer unbalanced until the end.

James Franciscus is a newlywed who is on vacation - and the situation seems normal, but he and his wife have an argument. The next day she is missing and Franciscus goes to the police (Jack Klugman) for assistance. But all of a sudden there is a knock at the door and Elizabeth Ashley enters their cabin and apologizes for being away calming down. Klugman figures that is the end of the problem, and leaves...despite Franciscus' odd complaints: he insists Ashley is not his missing wife. But she insists he's just kidding, and Klugman, shrugging, just leaves. As soon as he does Ashley turns on Franciscus with demands for a huge sum of money for her silence - otherwise she will reveal to the cop that there is something criminal here. Franciscus insists he's the one who has grounds for recalling Klugman, as Ashley is a faker and a blackmailer.

And so it goes....the viewers are soon involved in this crazy mystery as we try to find out what Ashley's crazy extortion scheme is, whether Franciscus will be able to prove she's a fake and a criminal, and whether the bored and matter-of-fact Klugman will ever get it into his head that he has not found an open and shut case but a complicated mystery here. Or is Klugman aware of it...in fact, what is his game?

Rarely shown on television it is certainly worthwhile catching, with it's three leads keeping the level of suspense up until the unexpected conclusion. Certainly one television mystery that worked.

Feint within a feint within a feint

[Putzberger · 8/10 · 28 December 2005]

It's not a bit surprising that this movie is based on a play, since it's rather theatrical: except for a couple of scenes tacked onto the beginning and end, it's a one-set mystery, and a rather gimmicky one at that. What makes it involving, however, is the subtext and Elizabeth Ashley's amazingly sexy performance. The film is really about art of deception and the seduction of play-acting. In one especially weird scene, the ever-bland Franciscus and a white-hot Ashley (those eyes!) almost get busy by poolside. You know at least one character is about to succumb to a lie. Later, the Klug-man has his most believable (and least mannered) moment when he embraces a deception and hollers at Franciscus, "where you come from, are all cops HONEST?" I've never considered Elizabeth Ashley a babe -- then again, most of what I've seen her do are lame made-fors and cheesy thrillers. But she won a Tony nomination for playing Maggie in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" so maybe she saved all her sensuality for these two roles.

BRILLIANT plot twister

[laptoppclaptop · 8/10 · 22 May 2016]

I lo-o-oved this suspense thriller! I absolutely hate modern thrillers which are all about spies and secret agents and all these gun-wielding tough guys with shaved heads and tattoos and one too many special effects. I love good old-fashioned suspense which is based on a good script and solid old-school standards of acting and directing. This is a good example how you can create on-the-edge-of-your-seat high quality thriller on a low budget, purely with psychological suspense.

There is this guy, whose wife suddenly got missing and you are biting your finger nails for him because unexpected calamities keep coming and you are really worried about this poor guy ...

The final twist is kept to the very very end and it is a real good one, the one you did not see coming. You have to watch to find out!

A real plot twister!

[julianhwescott · 10/10 · 22 January 2000]

I love this movie! It is very rarely seen, however. I've seen it once and wish it were available on video. It's a wonderful mystery that I promise you will never figure out. A real plot twister, it will make you sit on the edge of your seat.

The acting is great on all fronts. You'll always be guessing, wondering and halfway not wanting the film to end because it is so good. I could watch this movie in its entirety and sit right back down and watch it again. Don't miss this one, it's great!

Clever

[scribbles241 · 10 September 2004]

This is a well crafted mystery/suspense film based on Robert Thomas' play TRAP FOR A LONELY MAN. The cast is rock solid and the clever script will keep you guessing until the very end (unless you already know the final twist ahead of time).

Viewers who enjoyed this telemovie (or its inferior 1986 remake VANISHING ACT) should also track down the 1958 Michael Anderson movie CHASE A CROOKED SHADOW (starring Anne Baxter), which boasts a similar concept but with a slightly different premise (a woman is forcibly reunited with a man who claims to be her deceased brother, but only she seems to know that it's not really him).

A delectable mystery

[garlinda-1 · 7/10 · 14 July 2005]

For a made-for-TV movie, this one is great! Jack Klugman is funny, caring and clever as a big-city cop transferred to a sleepy suburb. When Daniel Corban reports that a woman has showed up impersonating his wife, it's up to Klugman to solve the mystery. Watch for a quirky priest, a charity woman and deli owner who help stir the pot. You don't know who to trust until the very, very end. James Franciscus, who can be a bit wooden in some roles, is great a man who who wonders if he himself is going crazy, or if it's just everyone else. I first saw this one when it was one of the ABC "Movies of the Week" in the 1970s, and didn't see it again until the 1990s. I taped it (got started five or 10 minutes late) but it is a VHS that I cherish--whip it out whenever I need a lift.

Excellent thriller!

[Munzpens · 10/10 · 1 May 2004]

This is a thriller made with all of the best ingredients. Just enough information is given in the beginning to pull the viewer into the plot. Critical information about the characters is withheld, however, to give viewers a chance to bond with the villain, not knowing who he is. The numerous changes in direction of the plot provide roller coaster swings and turns for the pleasantly confused viewer. As the final scenes tumble into the open, the viewer becomes torn in his loyalties to the main character and the supporting actor. At last, the truth of the matter comes into full view as the final scenes breeze by. The viewer is left holding his breath, waiting for permission to exhale! Excellent!

Pretty Good TV Thriller

[Rainey-Dawn · 6/10 · 22 January 2017]

Pretty good film about a man that contacted to police several times about his wife being missing. One day the father shows up with his wife. From that point on the man tries to prove that the woman is not his wife to the police, the police does not believe him - how is his going to prove that she is not his wife.

When Jack Klugman is in a film it definitely feels like 1970-something all over again. He was seen quite often on TV then (very early 80s too). He was good, fun to watch. Elizabeth Ashley, beautiful and a good actress - really good in this film. James Franciscus was also excellent in this one. And Joel Fabiani played the evil Father Kelleher convincingly.

6/10

Excellent Mystery!

[fgarza · 10/10 · 22 July 2005]

I saw this movie several years ago and I never forgot it. It will keep you on the edge of your seat. The actors are wonderful. As soon as you think you have it figured out, something will happen to prove you wrong. When it ends you'll want to watch it all over again. I have never seen a movie like it since. It is so smart and creative, I wish more movies were as imaginative. It's a favorite of mine. I'd love to buy the video or DVD, but it's nowhere to be found. I wish it would play on T.V. again, so I could tape it. If you get the chance to see it, don't miss it. Tape it if you can, they hardly ever show it. If you love unpredictable endings this is the movie for you! Engoy! I did.

One Of My Wives Is Missing

[a_baron · 2/10 · 22 August 2015]

A wealthy man is honeymooning in a small town when his new bride goes missing. The police are dragging their feet, but not to worry, the lady turns up, or does she? She says she is his wife, and everyone else is convinced, including the local priest, but heck, he recognises his own wife, doesn't he?

It soon becomes clear the impostor and the (fake) priest are in cahoots to drive him mad, but can he convince the local detective of that? A plot of this nature would not work in the cyber-age, of course, nor probably would it have worked in the 1970s. Everything about this film stinks: the wise-cracking former big city detective, the script, the ridiculous twists and turns, the one thing that holds it together is the apparent plot. Alas, the final twist is so ridiculous it beggars belief and then some. A much better alternative ending would be the obvious one in which although his wife has indeed been murdered, the chickens come home to roost for the villains. Alas, the way it actually plays out is too silly for words.

Excellent Movie

[Lavarock7 · 10/10 · 19 July 2010]

I was channel surfing one day and found this movie minutes after the opening credits. I thought it was a Quincy episode and started watching. I soon realized it was a move.

As the movie progressed I said "ah ha!" that I knew who did what. Minutes later I was proved wrong but THEN thought that I knew what was up. Again I was proved wrong. Soon I realized that I was being led down the primrose path. This back and forth happened throughout the movie.

By the end of the movie I realized how well it had been crafted. I felt is was a good choice of cast members too.

I highly recommend this movie if you can find it!

Dial S for Stagy

[moonspinner55 · 5/10 · 11 October 2015]

After vacationing newlyweds squabble and the wife drives off, her husband calls the resort police and reports her missing; she turns up two days later--accompanied by the local priest!--but may be an impostor. Mystery writer Peter Stone is unable to make Robert Thomas' play "Trap for a Single Man" into a convincing, satisfying movie, much less a TV-movie. Characters enter and exit the honeymoon house with stagy flourish, while the dialogue is heightened to reach bored viewers raised on "Columbo". Jack Klugman plays the police inspector with tongue-in-cheek, but hack director Glenn Jordan has Klugman and the other players shouting and waving their arms, like stage performers desperate to rouse an audience. Stone used the pseudonym "Pierre Marton"; it's a pretty silly movie, I don't blame him for not wanting credit.

Great!

[analoguebubblebath · 15 March 2002]

Very clever.

Klugman is excellent in this classy TVM from that glorious year, 1976. The remake came a decade later, "Vanishing Act", with Elliott Gould and while good, was not a patch on this.

Great plot. Keeps you guessing.

Finally got to see [and record] it this week

8/10

Gone wifey gone

[Coventry · 9/10 · 25 February 2020]

The high (7.7/10) rating and almost unanimously positive user-comments around here caught my attention. Finding the film was quite difficult, but eventually I watched "One of my Wives is Missing" via a copy that is available on YouTube. The picture and sound quality were very poor, but I couldn't care less because it was one of the most captivating, intelligent and addictive TV-mystery/thrillers I ever beheld! It's a must-see in case you're a fan of convoluted whodunit stories, like Agatha Christie's novels, for instance. You might occasionally think you figured out the plot, or feel confident about knowing what the characters are up to next, but the script somehow always outsmarts you anyway. Those are the best thrillers that exist, but unfortunately extremely rare. "One of my Wives is Missing", based on a stage play, is such a unique gem, and moreover blessed with great acting performances and witty humor. Barely three days into their honeymoon at a remote mansion in a sleepy village, corporate business executive Daniel Corban (James Fransiscus) reports his wife Elizabeth missing. Local head of police Levine (Jack Klugman) seemingly doesn't take the case all too serious, because the wife ran off with her car after a quarrel. And see, Elizabeth does return to her husband, ... except that Corban swears that the woman who returned isn't his wife. This two-line synopsis is only the tip of the iceberg, I assure you, but it would be a shame to reveal too much. Klugman's lines and clever remarks are often downright genius, while the confrontations between the perplexed Corban and the stoic Elizabeth are tense and chilling. The film doesn't receive a perfect 10-rating because the denouement requires a little too much suspension of disbelief, but "One of my Wives is Missing" nevertheless is an astounding 70s TV-treasure.

A great thriller!

[smithannasmith333 · 9/10 · 10 November 2013]

They don't make movies like this anymore! And that is a shame! A good old, well written, well acted, well directed full-blooded murder mystery thriller! With no gore, no special effects, based purely on a good script, good acting and good directing. My favorite! I hate all these modern action thriller, spy thrillers, blood-everywhere thrillers. I love old-fashioned suspense thrillers and this is an excellent example of them. You will be on the edge of the seat until the end, worried to death about the main character, wanting to jump on the screen to help him and not knowing who is really who and what they are playing at. You will not guess it until the very end - I promise you wont. The thrill is 100% psychological. Get some popcorn or a bottle of wine, put your feet up and enjoy!

A Brilliant 'Whodunwhat'

[samsmith81 · 10/10 · 5 January 2015]

When a man calls the police to report his wife missing, nobody is overly concerned. Even when a reluctant Inspector Levine (Jack Klugman) finally drives out to get Daniel Corban's (James Franciscus) statement about how his wife drove off after an argument and hasn't returned since, Levine still maintains that Corban shouldn't worry, she'll probably reappear soon enough. And he appears to be proved right when the local priest, Father Kelleher (Joel Fabiani) visits Corban and tells him his wife wants to come back - but as soon as Elizabeth (Elizabeth Ashley) walks through the door, Corban insists that this woman is NOT his wife! And that's just the very beginning of the movie.

Now Corban tries to prove to Levine and Kelleher that the woman is an impostor, while Elizabeth tries to convince them that her husband is disturbed and potentially in need of psychiatric help. It is up to Levine to find out the truth.

The mystery is extremely well crafted and full of plot twists, until the viewer can no longer be sure as to who is doing what to whom and why. At the same time, it has a great sense of humor, exploring the absurdly comical side of the situation as well as the mystery. Especially Levine has a lot of funny lines, and it is hilarious to watch the couple arguing over whether she is or isn't his wife in front of a rather puzzled-looking Kelleher and Levine as spectators to the domestic drama.

Adapted from a stage play, the teleplay is excellent. The casting is great, and so is the acting. A true masterpiece of television entertainment. If you get a chance, you should definitely watch it! Every once in a while you might catch it on TV. It's around on VHS, and it's also on youtube.

10 out of 10

Familiar...very familiar.

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 29 October 2016]

Daniel Corban (James Franciscus) is worried. His wife has disappeared and he's worried something happened to her. A very quirky police inspector (Jack Klugman) is assisting him. However, after a few days something strange happens...some priest appears and is bringing Daniel's 'wife' with him. But the lady who SAYS she is Elizabeth Corban (Elizabeth Ashley) isn't...or at least Daniel insists she isn't. She then explains to the police that Daniel has been under doctor's care and he isn't himself! Who's telling the truth and why?!?!

This is a very, very familiar theme. Not only is it one of about a dozen movie remakes of the play, "Piège pour un homme seul", but there are many other films that have very similar plots...such as another made for ABC TV movie, "You'll Never See Me Again" (1973). This familiarity of plots make it a less than original picture! But is it, despite this, any good? Well, yes and no. If you turn off your brain completely and don't question what you're seeing, you'll likely enjoy the film. But, so much in the film seems absurd and contrived...you REALLY have to suspend disbelief a lot! I could list the many situations, but simply lost track! Again and again and again, there were ridiculous twists and turns and surprises...so many to the point of being ludicrous. It's so contrived and so bad, in fact, that I would believe it if someone told me a high school student wrote the screenplay!!

And, by the way, at the very end someone is shot, at point blank range, with a gun with blanks. This WOULD severely injure or even kill the recipient....yet they were just fine! Sloppy....along with the rest of the film.

Similar plot

[stellgos · 8/10 · 3 March 2018]

No-one seems to have mentioned yet that there are many similarities in the plot of this teleplay to the 1946 Humphrey Bogart movie "Conflict", whose main theme is almost identical. Check it out!

Highly Improbable and Overly Complicated

[merrywater · 5/10 · 3 March 2017]

I'll rate this flick 5 out of 10 just due to the atmosphere of sleazy 70s TV pictures.

The plot is drug it out beyond credibility, and the main protagonist is acting like an utter fool, even considering the bewildering twist in the end.

Not to spoil things, in case you get to see this picture on youtube (as I did, otherwise it'd perhaps be rather hard, not being available on VHS or DVD, etc.) the major idea is a plot within a plot within a plot.

A real nail biter

[bwaynef · 30 April 2003]

At first glance, this looks like another here today, gone tomorrow made for TV thriller, but this is one that will stay with you. There are twists and turns that you'd never expect, and the denouement is very clever. There's a terrific atmosphere of mystery and terror throughout, and the cast is perfect. Jack Klugman never solved a mystery this good as Quincy, that's for sure.

Now On DVD!

[CherCee · 8/10 · 7 July 2020]

Just found this on Amazon in a 2 movie disc with Charade (Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn).

One of the Best!

[CocoSea · 9/10 · 27 January 2022]

Handsome James Franciscus offers a wonderful performance as a victimized honeymooner (Mr. Corban) who is frantically worried about his wife! Jake Klugman's streetwise seasoned cop offers an equally compelling portrayal of the Inspector. And was I ever shocked by the ending! This is a must see.

The original and the best.

[wkozak221 · 10/10 · 28 April 2021]

This is my opinion. I saw this when it first showed up on tv. This is the first tv movie version. The cast is great and varied. The script is very good and keeps you guessing. I have watched the other version. I think this is best.

An Above Average, and Well Acted, Made For TV Film and Thriller.

[frschoonover · 8/10 · 10 March 2024]

One of My Wives is Missing premeired as an ABC. Movie of the Week on March 3, 1976. The film stars Jack Klugman, Daniel. Franciscus, Elizabeth Ashley,Joel Fabiani,Milton Seltzer,Ruth McDevitt and Garry Walberg, with Tony Costello and. Byron Webster making special appearances.

The whole film starts on a sunny day in Schuylkill, Pennsylvani as inspector. Murray Levine (Klugman) is enjoying the weather until new officer Bert (Costello) informs him about Daniel Corban (Franciscus) constantly calling him about his wife being missing. Levine goes to Corban's place to talk with him and as a courtesy, decides to investigate this. However, a lady claiming to be his wife (Ashley) emerges, but Corban claims that the lady is an imposter. Levine figures that the case is solved with this, but again, Corban repeatedly claims her to be an imposter. Corban continually bugs and harrasses Levine, and along the way, two other people emerge, such as a priest (Fabiani) and a lady named Mrs. Foster (McDevitt) that complicates things even further. As the story continues to unfold, Levine feels that there is more to the story than what Corban has chosen to reveal as even more twists and turns start happening. The questions are: Did Mr. Corban's wife really disappear?, or, Is Mr. Corban hiding something that he hopes doesn't get revealed by anyone?

This particular mystery film falls into the category of: "What the H-E-double hockey sticks.is really going on here?" The film and its story seem to have been inspired by the writings of Agatha Christie (who died the year this TV movie was shown) as it resembles something that she would write.

This was the second Made for TV adaption of the play called "Trap for a Single Man". It was preceded by 1969's "Honeymoon with a Stranger" and follwed up a decade later by "Vanishing Act".

I remember catching this film during the late 1980's on a Sunday afternoon movie on one of my local syndicated TV stations. I actually enjoyed this film on first viewing.

This is an above average made for TV film. It is a very well acted film. It is also well written and technically well made. Glenn Jordan works wonders here as director of this made for TV flick. The film keeps the viewer in suspense with each suspenseful twist and turn. It also keeps the viewer guessing and figuring out what's really happening until the bitter end. The suspense never lets up and is almost unbearable as a result of all the complicated things happening around the main character. It also keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat until the whole thing ends. This film also has a very unique twist ending that has to be seen to be believed.

With the exception of a mid 1980's home video release and a Canadian DVD release coupled with 1963's Charade, this film hasn't been widely available on any video format. Plus, it has only been shown sporadically on syndicated TV since its initial network TV showing. Not only that, this film, like the aforementioned Charade, has fallen into public domain status as 20th Century Fox, who originally distributed the film to television, lost the copyright to this film over the years and has never kept it up in regards to copyright.

However, this film is above average and should be a part of every mystery film lovers movie library. It is worth owning and can be viewed again and again. This is a terrific film.

A definite must see there is a twist at every turn.

[blake-21 · 13 June 1999]

James franciscus is wondering if the women next to him is his New wife, Jack Klugman is the detective telling him that he will check into it but he can't say for sure. the wife is asking Klugman what is happening and Klugman is telling her to be patient after a recent crash Franciscus may have temporary amnesia and there is more to it than this.