One of My Wives Is Missing (1976)

It is a performances centric movie

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

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!

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.

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.

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.