M Squad (TV Series) The Frightened Wife (1958) User Reviews

One Of These Females Is A Killer

[ccthemovieman-1 · 8/10 · 4 March 2010]

This was a "whodunnit" with two prime female candidates. Which one is the killer - the wife or the girlfriend? Both have motives, like big bucks in the guy's will? One is pretty and smooth (the girlfriend); the other is shrill and melodramatic (the wife). The latter puts a really interesting twist to this story when she puts herself on trial to try to clear all the rumors about her. The title to this episode is "The Frightened wife" but this woman doesn't convince me she's frightened.

We don't know who killed the man except both a man and women were in on it and the female shot the man. We only see the people from the waist down, shooting the guy who is bound-and-gagged. That's the early dramatic scene which opens this show.

The two main female suspects are interesting contrasts and are played by Marian Seldes (the wife, in here) and Whitney Blake (the mistress). Seldes is still acting at the age of 72 and lately has been in feature films! Good for her. Blake stuck to TV and then retired in 1981. She died in 2002. One of her claims to fame was that she starred in the first episode ever of Perry Mason in 1957,

Who Did Hubby?

[gordonl56 · 8/10 · 30 October 2013]

M-SQUAD –The Frightened Wife - 1958 This is episode 22 of the 1957 to 1960 Crime series, M-SQUAD. The series ran for 117 episodes and features Lee Marvin as the headliner. Marvin is a Lt with the elite M-Squad unit of the Chicago Police.

Marian Seldes reports her husband is missing. She tells the Police that he sometimes takes off, but never for more and a couple of days. It has been 5 days and she is worried. Also in to see the Police is Esther Dale, the missing man's wealthy aunt. Dale has pull with the Mayor and other various high officials.

The DA, Herbert Rudley, calls in M-Squad to look into the matter. Marvin interviews Seldes, her brother, David Lewis and the missing man's secretary, Whitney Blake. The Interviews lead nowhere helpful. Seldes is downright unhelpful and accuses the Police of harassment. She tells all that The Police are coming after her instead of looking for her missing husband.

Now Seldes turns herself in and admits to killing her hubby and dumping the body out in the Great Lakes. Marvin thinks there is something hinky about the confession, but DA Rudley jumps at it. The case hits the courts and Seldes pulls out a self-addressed letter dated the day before her confession. In it, she states that she is going to falsely admit to the crime. Her reason being for doing this is to get the story of her missing husband out to the press.

The judge is going to take 24 hours to make his decision on the matter. He will either continue with the trial, or declare Seldes not guilty of the charges. Of course then double jeopardy will apply. Marvin smells a rat and goes over the case files again. He turns up a possible lead involving an old basement well in one of the family houses.

A search warrant and a jackhammer soon turn up the quite dead husband. Seldes and her brother are charged with his murder. It seems that hubby was planning on divorcing Seldes. He wanted to take up with the pretty secretary, Blake. Seldes was not about to let this happen, hence the murder.

The episode was directed by actor, turned director, Don Taylor. Taylor's best screen role was in the Wilder film, STALAG 17. His best turn as a director was 1980's FINAL COUNTDOWN with Kirk Douglas.

Oscar nominated, John L Russell (PSYCHO) handled the cinematography for the episode.

May 3rd! May 3rd! Something happened on May 3rd!

[kapelusznik18 · 6/10 · 1 June 2014]

***SPOILERS*** After reporting her husband Norman missing the M Squad unit of the Chicago Police Department headed by Let. Det. Frank Ballinger, Lee Marvin, started to put the squeeze on Martha Wicklow, Marian Seldes, in finding out what she knew and wasn't telling them about Norman's disappearance. It turns out that Norman was having an affair with his secretary Susan Spencer, Whitney Blake, that was no secret to anyone including Martha.

With Let. Det. Ballinger reaching nothing but a dead end to Norman's disappearance Martha out of thin air confessed to murdering him and dumping his body into Lake Michigan! This was all written down by by Martha in a letter that she had registered on the afternoon of May 3rd two weeks before she confessed her crime? Ballinger smelling both a con and a rat in Martha's confession checked out the newspapers of May 3rd and found out that's the day that the Wicklow Museum that Martha was in charge of and is deeply in debt was obtained by a construction company to be demolished as soon as possible. As Det. Let. Ballinger figures Norman's murder was somehow connected with the soon to be tearing down of the museum which when torn down would reveal the real reasons for his wife Martha confessing to his murder.

***SPOILERS*** Lulu of an M Squad episode with Let. Det. Frank Ballinger almost losing his life , by being dumped into the bottom of a sealed up well, solving this bizarre murder of Norman Wicklow. We already saw at the start of the episode that Norman was murdered and his body given the cement jacket treatment to weigh in down but the clue is where it was to be weighed down in. And most of all why would Martha be so willing to confess and be be convicted as soon as possible of her husband's murder when there's absolutely not enough evidence to as much as even indite her!