BY LEE PFEIFFER
The 1970s was the Golden Age of American TV movies and mini-series. Fortunately, many of these long unseen titles have been surfacing again on home video and streaming services. I'll admit that memories of the very good ones had somewhat romanticized my recollection of the TV movie genre in general. Upon viewing some of the titles today, they don't hold up as well as I had hoped, but even the weakest remain quite entertaining. "One of My Wives is Missing" is definitely a lesser entry in the TV movie cycle. In fact, I had never heard of it until I came across the title on Amazon Prime and decided to give it a go. The film was telecast in 1976 and has a good deal of talent associated with the production. The show was produced by the powerhouse team of Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg. The screenplay was by Peter Stone, who used the nom-de-plume Pierre Marton, and the director was Glenn Jordan, an established TV veteran with a long line of credentials. The cast was also impressive: James Franciscus, Jack Klugman and Elizabeth Ashley.
The film starts out with Franciscus as Daniel Corban, a rich New York City executive frantically calling police numerous times to find out about any progress made relating to his previous report of his new wife as a missing person. Corban and she were enjoying their honeymoon at a lake resort in upstate New York when he claims she went out in her car and never returned. Corban is increasingly frantic to find out where she is. Finally, the local police chief, Murray Levine (Jack Klugman) meets with him to get more facts. Corban is frustrated by Levine's unorthodox police methods and feels that the small department he oversees is not up to solving the mystery. Corban tells Levine that his wife is even wealthier than he is and that they are a devoted couple. When Levine leaves, things start to get weird. An attractive young woman arrives at the house and makes herself at home, claiming she is Corban's wife Elizabeth. As played by Elizabeth Ashley, she's attractive, intelligent and has a habit of sauntering around the rented house in an array of provocative outfits that are cut down-to-there. Corban is stunned and claims he has no idea who she is and why she is posing as his wife. Still, she goes about her business, saying that he must be delusional due to stress. Things get even weirder with the arrival of a local priest, Father Kelleher (Joel Fabiani), who backs up Elizabeth's story and verifies that Elizabeth is indeed the real Mrs. Corban.
The central premise of the plot is the movie's weakest point. It's patently absurd because anyone could have easily be able to prove or disprove the real identity of a spouse even back in 1976 in the pre-internet era. The fact that Chief Levine can't achieve this simple task is explained away by the fact that it's the Labor Day weekend holiday and everything is closed, as though New York City police resources would simply shut down as though they were a local coffee shop. As screenwriter, adapting the Robert Thomas stage play "Trap for a Single Man", Peter Stone allows most of the action to take place in a living room before opening things up a bit in the climax. As with all whodunnits of this type, the less plot revelations, the better. Suffice it to say that the script veers increasingly into the realm of the unbelievable before Stone redeems himself by providing some cracking good plot surprises in the last fifteen minutes. Stone's presence on the low-brow TV movie is a bit of surprise, given that he had written such esteemed feature films as "Charade", "Father Goose" and "The Taking of Pelham One-Two-Three". Perhaps that's why he used an assumed name. A near fatal error is director Jordan's handling of the pivotal role of the priest. Joel Fabiani is miscast in the part and Jordan has him using a cliched Irish accent that makes him sound as though he's channeling the ghost of Barry Fitzgerald. Franciscus is good, if a bit hammy at times, as the bewildered and exasperated husband. Klugman, always a pleasure to watch, is in full Columbo mode, exhibiting plenty of disarming tactics to mask the fact he is more competent than he seems. Ashley oozes sensuality and is quite effective as the woman who holds the key to the mystery. In all, it adds up as satisfactory, if unexceptional, trip back in time to the era of the "ABC Movie of the Week" series.
The Amazon Prime streamer is presented "as is" with from a source that has not been enhanced in any manner. The film had been released on VHS and as a low-rent public domain DVD. The latter probably served as the source for the streaming presentation.