I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
View Morejust watch it!
Good start, but then it gets ruined
Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.
View MoreDaniel 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.
View MoreAfter 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.
View MoreWhen 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
View MoreI 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.
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