A husband survived five murder attempts by his wife, then bailed her out of jail.

Entertainment · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: The 1990 black comedy I Love You to Death features a wife repeatedly trying to kill her unfaithful husband. While the film’s slapstick tone feels like pure Hollywood invention, it is based on the bizarre, true story of Frances and Tony Toto, a couple who remained married after the ordeal.

In 1983, Allentown, Pennsylvania, Frances Toto attempted to kill her husband, Tony, five times. The events, which eventually inspired Lawrence Kasdan’s film, included shooting Tony in the head and chest and attempting to poison him with barbiturate-laced chicken soup while he lay wounded in bed for five days. Despite the severity of these actions, the couple’s story took a turn that many found difficult to believe: Tony not only forgave his wife but actively campaigned for her leniency, even taking out a loan on their home to bail her out of jail.

Tony Toto later explained that his own flagrant womanizing and insensitive behavior had driven Frances to such extremes. After Frances served four years in prison for attempted murder, the couple reconciled, agreeing that marriage counseling would have been a more constructive path than hiring assassins. Tony maintained that a sense of humor was essential to surviving their ordeal, noting that the film’s comedic approach was the only way he could process the experience. He famously described the movie as 99 percent accurate, confirming that the most outlandish details—including the baseball bat attack, the car bomb, and the multiple shootings—were grounded in reality.

The film itself, starring Kevin Kline and Tracey Ullman, received mixed critical reviews upon its 1990 release. While some critics praised the performances, others found the pacing sluggish. Despite the dark subject matter, the real-life Totos were pleased with the adaptation. As of 2023, the couple remains married, a testament to a reconciliation that continues to baffle those who view their story as a stranger-than-fiction anomaly. The film serves as a strange cultural artifact, turning a violent, real-world tragedy into a piece of entertainment that the primary victim found both accurate and cathartic.

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