ONE OF MY WIVES IS MISSING

James Franciscus and Jack Klugman

ONE OF MY WIVES IS MISSING  (1976 telefilm). Director: Glenn Jordan.

Daniel Corban (James Franciscus) is on his honeymoon in a small town when he tells Inspector Levine (Jack Klugman) that his wife walked out after a minor argument and hasn't been seen since. The laid-back Levine tries to be sympathetic but doesn't think there's much to worry about, especially when Mrs. Corban (Elizabeth Ashley) walks in and announces that she's back. The only problem is that Corban insists that he has never seen this woman before and that she is not Elizabeth Corban! Although Corban thinks of every way he can to convince the inspector that he's telling the truth, his "wife" counters his every move, and the situation truly begins to look desperate ... 

Elizabeth Ashley

Three good lead performances are at the heart of One of My Wives, a twisty tale that has been told before and afterwards. Anne Baxter was the harried honeymooner in Chase a Crooked Shadow (1958), then Janet Leigh in Honeymoon with a Stranger (1969). In 1986 came yet another telefilm, Vanishing Act, which starred Elliot Gould as the honeymooning husband. These were all official or uncredited versions of Robert Thomas' stage play "Trap for a Single Man." Like other versions, One of My Wives is suspenseful and intriguing, bolstered by Klugman's pleasant cop, Ashley's increasingly sinister and witchy portrayal, and Franciscus' credibly mounting fear, confusion and alarm. There is also good work from Joel Fabiani as a priest, Milton Selzer as a grocer, and the ever-lovable Ruth McDevitt as a neighbor. 

Verdict: Good version of this oft-told tale. ***. 

SHIP OF FOOLS

Oskar Werner and Simone Signoret

SHIP OF FOOLS (1965). Produced and directed by Stanley Kramer. Based on the novel by Katherine Anne Porter. 

"There are over a million Jews in Germany. What are they going to do -- kill all of us?" -- Lowenthal. 

"I've met women like you. You're 46-years-old and still think you're a coquette." 

"I didn't even see a Jew until I was fifteen." -- Tenny. "Maybe you were too busy lynching Negroes to take time for the Jews." -- Mary. 

In 1933 an ocean liner sets sail from Mexico to Germany with a motley group of crew and passengers. Dr. Wilhelm Schumann (Oskar Werner) is the ship's doctor, a married man with a heart condition who develops a romantic relationship with La Condesa (Simone Signoret), a woman who faces prison in Cuba because she spoke out against the oppressive government. David (George Segal) is an American "starving artist" who loves his girlfriend Jenny (Elizabeth Ashley), but fears she is too "modern" for him even as she fears he can only settle for the traditional wife who has no life or career of her own. Karl Glocken (Michael Dunn) is a dwarf who is not invited to the Captain's Table, any more than Lowenthal (Heinz Ruhmann), who is Jewish, but the two sit together and become friends. Bill Tenny (Lee Marvin) is a washed-up baseball player, and Mary Treadwell (Vivien Leigh) an aging and desperately lonely divorcee, who eventually have a distinctly unpleasant encounter. 

Vivien Leigh

Ship of Fools is not on the level of Stanley Kramer's masterpiece Judgment at Nuremberg, because even though it deals with matters German and (in part) with anti-Semitism, it doesn't have as good nor as powerful a story line. There are also some odd casting choices in this. Jose Ferrer as a Nazi? Simone Signoret as a Spanish noblewoman? Nonetheless Signoret did get a Best Actress Oscar nod, and Werner was also nominated as Best Actor. Both give good performances, although their love story isn't entirely convincing because one can't see any real on-screen chemistry between them, although they play well together. Poor Vivien Leigh is given the utterly thankless role of yet another desperate and aging woman to follow Blanche Dubois of Streetcar and Mrs. Stone of The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone -- Still attractive, she must have gotten awfully sick of it. Leigh was fifty-two at the time, playing forty-six, although she holds up better than Signoret, who was forty-four playing forty-two. The irony is that Mary Treadwell acts as if she's all washed up when down the hall La Condesa is getting action with the handsome ship's doctor! Leigh's performance is fine but her portrayal is dated.  

Lee Marvin and Michael Dunn

Michael Dunn, infamous as the evil Dr. Loveless on The Wild, Wild West TV program gives a notable performance, but although Lee Marvin has his moments, he seems to have wandered in from a different movie. Liz Ashley, in her pre-sex pot phase, is more than credible as Jenny, as is George Segal as her painter boyfriend. Charles Korvin is appealing as Captain Thiele. Jose Ferrer is completely miscast and not very good in the film, but there is fine work from two lesser-known actors: Alf Kjellin [Madame Bovary] is wonderful as Freytag, who is forced to leave the Captain's table because he is married to a Jewish woman, but suffers from great guilt because he abandoned her for his career; and Charles De Vries makes an impression as young Johann, whose elderly father is a miser. Werner Klemperer has some nice moments as a crew member who hopes to initiate a relationship with Mrs. Treadwell and is rather cruel to her when he is rejected. 

Ernest Gold's score is effective and Ernest Laszlo's cinematography deservedly won an Oscar. (The film also won as Best Picture, and the art direction also received a statue.) Abby Mann's screenplay, however, just doesn't delve deep enough into the characters, of which there are too many (the character of the ball player doesn't even belong in the movie). The film can't be said to be boring, as such, but it is never riveting the way the far superior Judgment at Nuremberg is. Still, it has memorable scenes, such as the sad one when Dunn observes that Lowenthal is a "fool", because he just isn't able to believe the dire and hopeless future for the Jews in Germany. 

Verdict: Despite many good moments, this should have been a much more absorbing and powerful picture. **3/4. 

WHEN MICHAEL CALLS

Elizabeth Ashely gets a call

WHEN MICHAEL CALLS (1972 telefilm). Director: Philip Leacock. An ABC Movie of the Week.

Helen Connelly (Elizabeth Ashley of The Carpetbaggers) begins getting phone calls from a boy who claims he is her nephew, Michael -- unfortunately Michael died in a blizzard fifteen years before. Helen tries to dismiss the phone calls and what they may signify from her mind, but then some of her friends and acquaintances wind up dying in mysterious ways. Did Michael somehow survive and is he out for revenge, or is someone else carrying out a grudge plot against the townspeople? Based on a novel by John Farris, When Michael Calls is minor but suspenseful and well acted, with good performances from Ashley, Ben Gazzara [Bloodline] as her concerned ex-husband, and especially Michael Douglas [The China Syndrome] as Michael's older brother. John Farris turned to directing the same year for Dear Dead Delilah with Agnes Moorehead.

Verdict: Holds the attention. **1/2.

THE CARPETBAGGERS

THE CARPETBAGGERS (1964). Director: Edward Dmytryk. Screenplay by John Michael Hayes.

George Peppard gives a surprisingly dynamic performance – his best, ever – as Jonas Cord, a Howard Hughes-type rich boy's son who weds and beds many a wench, starts an international airline, and takes over a movie production company and creates a star out of his own, very sexy former stepmother (Carroll Baker). Based on Harold Robbins' novel, this could easily be dismissed as trash were it not for the fact that it's quite well-acted, well-scripted (for what it is), and moves at a pace that leaves little time to ponder events but much time to be extremely entertained – there isn't a boring moment and much of the film is even striking in its way. Peppard and Baker are both better than you'd expect them to be, although they may not capture whatever nuances other actors might have found in their characters. Alan Ladd scores as Peppard's old companion and surrogate father, who becomes a cowboy hero of the movies and marries Baker. Ladd's climactic fight scene with Peppard is a highlight of the picture. Elizabeth Ashley, who later married Peppard in real life, is excellent as the wife he terribly mistreats, and even Martha Hyer is sexy fun as another blond hooker Peppard decides to turn into a star. Ralph Teager is fine as Peppard's pilot buddy and Bob Cummings is right on the money as a rather slimy Hollywood agent positively dripping with charm. Lew Ayres has one of his best latter-day roles as Peppard's business advisor, who is eventually disgusted by his antics (their parting scene is very well played).

Verdict: Overall, this long, lusty, often amusing and exciting picture isn't bad at all. ***.