One, Two, Three (1961)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Billy Wilder

Writers:

Ferenc Molnár (play)
Billy Wilder (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

15 December 1961 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Billy Wilder's Explosive New Comedy

Plot:

Comedy about Coca-Cola's man in West Berlin, who may be fired if he can't keep his American boss's daughter from marrying a Communist.

Plot Keywords:

Berlin | Coca Cola | Communist | Germany | Monocle

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 5 nominations

Cast

James Cagney	...	C.R. MacNamara
Horst Buchholz	...	Otto Ludwig Piffl
Pamela Tiffin	...	Scarlett Hazeltine
Arlene Francis	...	Phyllis MacNamara
Howard St. John	...	Wendell P. Hazeltine
Hanns Lothar	...	Schlemmer
Leon Askin	...	Peripetchikoff
Ralf Wolter	...	Borodenko
Karl Lieffen	...	Fritz (chauffeur)
Hubert von Meyerinck	...	Count von Droste Schattenburg
Loïs Bolton	...	Melanie Hazeltine (as Lois Bolton)
Peter Capell	...	Mishkin
Til Kiwe	...	Reporter
Henning Schlüter	...	Dr. Bauer
Karl Ludwig Lindt	...	Zeidlitz

Runtime:

115 min | Finland:108 min (1962) (banned version) | Canada:108 min (Ontario) | UK:108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German | Russian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Australia:PG (TV rating) | Finland:K-12 (1986) | Finland:(Banned) (1962) (1966) (1969) | USA:Approved (PCA #20106) | UK:U | Australia:G | Sweden:11 | West Germany:6

Filming Locations:

Bavaria Filmstudios, Geiselgasteig, Grünwald, Bavaria, Germany

Company:

Mirisch Corporation, The

Trivia:

James Cagney had such a negative experience making this picture that he retired from films for 20 years until his cameo in Ragtime (1981).

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: At the end of the first verse of "Yes, We Have No Bananas", the orchestra leader stops singing the song and closes his mouth while on the soundtrack his voice continues singing.

Quotes:

C.R. MacNamara: [to Otto] The only royalty we know are Count Basie, Duke Snider, and Earl Wilson.

Movie Connections:

References Trouble in Paradise (1932)

Soundtrack:

Yes! We Have No Bananas (Ausgerechnet Bananen)

Wilder and Cagney at their peak.

This, and not Doctor Strangelove, is the supreme satire of the Cold War. From Cagney's hilarious opening narration, to its wonderful punch line, this masterpiece sustains a comic pace and energy that would almost no active film maker could hope to equal. The interrogation of Piffle is unforgettable, as is the meeting between Cagney and the commissars in the beer hall. In a word-MAGNIFICENT.