One, Two, Three

12/15/19611h 49m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ Billy Wilder's Explosive New Comedy ~

Overview:

C.R. MacNamara is a managing director for Coca Cola in West Berlin during the Cold War, just before the Wall is put up. When Scarlett, the rebellious daughter of his boss, comes to West Berlin, MacNamara has to look after her, but this turns out to be a difficult task when she reveals to be married to a communist.

Director:

Billy Wilder

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$3,000,000.00

Revenue:

$4,000,000.00

Key words:

prison
capitalist
berlin, germany
clerk
cold war
pregnancy
atlanta
soviet union
headquarter
iron curtain
totalitarian regime
chamber of commerce
east berlin
west berlin
principal
wedding
american
baffled
cheerful

Cast

James Cagney

~ as ~

C.R. MacNamara

Horst Buchholz

~ as ~

Otto Ludwig Piffl

Pamela Tiffin

~ as ~

Scarlett Hazeltine

Arlene Francis

~ as ~

Phyllis MacNamara

Howard St. John

~ as ~

Wendell P. Hazeltine

Hanns Lothar

~ as ~

Schlemmer

Leon Askin

~ as ~

Peripetchikoff

Ralf Wolter

~ as ~

Borodenko

Karl Lieffen

~ as ~

Fritz

Hubert von Meyerinck

~ as ~

Count von Droste Schattenburg

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

John Chard
Written 8 year(s) ago
4
Amazing Cagney performance in a film that has no resonance now.

C.R. MacNamara is the head of Coca-Cola's bottling interests in Germany, he is a forceful man who wants to be all that he can be. He hopes to be the head of European operations for the company and is well on his way until the teenage daughter of Coca-Cola big wig Wendell P. Hazeltine shows up and he is asked to baby-sit her for a two week trip thru the continent.

I wish I could have been around to watch this on its release in 1961, for I'm sure I would of laughed my head off at the relevant jokes of the time. Full of communist bluster dialogue and jokes in keeping with the times, One, Two, Three has all the trademarks of a classic Billy Wilder/I.A.L. Diamond picture. Yet viewing it now, one finds that the jokes are tired and weary, and although the frenetic pace of the film is incredible {it really is like a scattergun exploding upon the viewers senses}, the film is something of an archaic oddity. Boasting a quite brilliant performance from James Cagney, the picture is never less than watchable, but the advent of time means the film is stuck firmly in 1961, regardless of the fine work from lead man and director alike. 6/10