my mom saw this movie, possibly in the 70s. there was a man who killed his wife in a car accident and then later in the movie there was some sort of plat twist and she was alive and all of the people involved were actors.
shes trying to figure out what it was called or at least who was in it so we could figure it out...if anyone has any suggestions or knows the movie we'd both appreciate it.
thanks

The only movie that comes to mind is The Long Goodbye

In 1976 a made for TV movie had a similar story. It was called, "One of My Wives Is Missing" and starred Jack Klugman and James Franciscus, but it was remade later as "Vanishing Act".

As I remember, the storyline was a man (Franciscus) murders his wife via a car wreck after a big fight. The local Sherrif (Klugman) of a small town finds the body but never admits it to Franciscus because he suspected foul play and wanted to force a confession through trickery. Klugman enlisted actors from the town's theater group to play parts in a con game, including one actress who played his dead wife.

Anyway, that's the only movie I can think of. BTW, it was a pretty good flick. You can read more about it HERE.