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One, Two, Three

  • 1961
  • Not Rated
  • 1h 44m
IMDb RATING
7.9/10
22K
YOUR RATING
One, Two, Three (1961)
Watch Official Trailer
Play trailer2:13
1 Video
48 Photos
Comedy

In West Berlin during the Cold War, a Coca-Cola executive is given the task of taking care of his boss' socialite daughter.In West Berlin during the Cold War, a Coca-Cola executive is given the task of taking care of his boss' socialite daughter.In West Berlin during the Cold War, a Coca-Cola executive is given the task of taking care of his boss' socialite daughter.

  • Director
    • Billy Wilder
  • Writers
    • Billy Wilder
    • I.A.L. Diamond
    • Ferenc Molnár
  • Stars
    • James Cagney
    • Horst Buchholz
    • Pamela Tiffin
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    7.9/10
    22K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Billy Wilder
    • Writers
      • Billy Wilder
      • I.A.L. Diamond
      • Ferenc Molnár
    • Stars
      • James Cagney
      • Horst Buchholz
      • Pamela Tiffin
    • 149User reviews
    • 67Critic reviews
    • 73Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar
      • 1 win & 8 nominations total

    Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:13
    Watch Official Trailer

    Photos48

    James Cagney, Horst Buchholz, Hanns Lothar, and Pamela Tiffin in One, Two, Three (1961)
    James Cagney in One, Two, Three (1961)
    James Cagney and Liselotte Pulver in One, Two, Three (1961)
    Horst Buchholz and Pamela Tiffin in One, Two, Three (1961)
    Horst Buchholz in One, Two, Three (1961)
    James Cagney, Liselotte Pulver, Leon Askin, Peter Capell, and Ralf Wolter in One, Two, Three (1961)
    James Cagney, Christine Allen, John Allen, and Arlene Francis in One, Two, Three (1961)
    James Cagney in One, Two, Three (1961)
    Horst Buchholz in One, Two, Three (1961)
    James Cagney, Horst Buchholz, and Pamela Tiffin in One, Two, Three (1961)
    James Cagney, Liselotte Pulver, and Hanns Lothar in One, Two, Three (1961)
    James Cagney and Pamela Tiffin in One, Two, Three (1961)

    Top cast

    Edit
    James Cagney
    James Cagney
    • C.R. MacNamara
    Horst Buchholz
    Horst Buchholz
    • Otto Ludwig Piffl
    Pamela Tiffin
    Pamela Tiffin
    • Scarlett Hazeltine
    Arlene Francis
    Arlene Francis
    • Phyllis MacNamara
    Howard St. John
    Howard St. John
    • Wendell P. Hazeltine
    Hanns Lothar
    • Schlemmer
    Leon Askin
    Leon Askin
    • Peripetchikoff
    Ralf Wolter
    • Borodenko
    Karl Lieffen
    • Fritz
    Hubert von Meyerinck
    Hubert von Meyerinck
    • Count von Droste Schattenburg
    Loïs Bolton
    • Melanie Hazeltine
    • (as Lois Bolton)
    Peter Capell
    Peter Capell
    • Mishkin
    Til Kiwe
    Til Kiwe
    • Reporter
    Henning Schlüter
    Henning Schlüter
    • Dr. Bauer
    Karl Ludwig Lindt
    • Zeidlitz
    Liselotte Pulver
    Liselotte Pulver
    • Fräulein Ingeborg
    • (as Lilo Pulver)
    John Banner
    John Banner
    • Krause
    • (voice)
    • …
    Christine Allen
    • Cindy MacNamara
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Billy Wilder
    • Writers
      • Billy Wilder
      • I.A.L. Diamond
      • Ferenc Molnár
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      In James Cagney's autobiography, he says that Horst Buchholz was the only actor he really hated working with because he was uncooperative and tried all kinds of scene-stealing moves, which Cagney depended on Billy Wilder to correct. Had Wilder not firmly directed Buchholz, Cagney said that he "was going to knock Buchholz on his ass, which at several points I would have been very happy to do".
    • Goofs
      Schlemmer calls his former superior officer in the SS "Herr Oberleutnant". The SS had no rank of Oberleutnant nor did its members call each other Herr. Oberleutnant was a German Army rank. The corresponding SS rank was Obersturmführer. In the German (dubbed) version, Schlemmer correctly addresses him as "Obersturmführer".
    • Quotes

      Borodenko: When will papers be ready?

      C.R. Macnamara: I'll put my secretary right to work on it.

      Mishkin: Your secretary? She's that blonde lady?

      C.R. Macnamara: That's the one.

      Peripetchikoff: [after conferring with the others] You will send papers to East Berlin with blonde lady in triplicate.

      C.R. Macnamara: You want the papers in triplicate, or the blonde in triplicate?

      Peripetchikoff: See what you can do.

    • Connections
      Edited into Amérique, notre histoire (2006)
    • Soundtracks
      Sabre Dance
      (uncredited)

      from "Gayaneh"

      Music by Aram Khachaturyan

    User reviews149

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    9/10
    Billy Wilder Gets Hot Over the Cold War
    One, Two, Three is from the fertile mind of Billy Wilder where Cold War politics gets reduced to the absurd. This film is so fast and so funny it's only a few steps from Monty Python.

    For what was and what should have remained his swan song to the world of film James Cagney heads the cast in this. He's the man in charge of Coca-Cola's operations in Germany which is headquartered in West Berlin and he's had a lovely little present dumped in his lap. The daughter of the CEO of Coca-Cola is in Europe and now she's in Germany and he's expected to watch out for her. The daughter is played by Pamela Tiffin and she is one of the biggest airheads ever portrayed on the screen. She's fallen big time for a German kid played by Horst Bucholtz. They've gotten married.

    Bucholtz is a kid who's real good at spouting all kinds of left wing slogans without delving to deeply into their meanings. He's a Communist and that drives Cagney nuts and if it drives Cagney nuts, Tiffin's father is sure to go over the top. Cagney takes it upon himself to get Bucholtz arrested on the East Berlin side as an American spy.

    Of course a small memento of their married life has developed inside Tiffin so now Cagney has a real problem. He's got to get Bucholtz back and turn him into a money grubbing capitalist in his image. The frantic pace at which this is attempted, racing against the clock when Tiffin's father played by Howard St. John arrives in Berlin is what the rest of the film is about.

    Wilder has a ball reducing the Cold War to its basic absurdities. The USA is symbolized by James Cagney who thinks the whole world will become America if only enough Coca-Cola is peddled. Cagney comes real close to proving it so.

    The Communists come out far worse. Karl Marx's world always looked nice on paper, but always has had a real problem being converted into a functioning state. The Russians are also good at spouting the party line, but in One, Two, Three, Wilder shows how very easily they can be influenced by some of life's most elemental things and I don't mean Coca-Cola.

    Cagney did not always get along with Wilder, but both men were professional enough to bury certain creative differences. Cagney was kind and patient with Tiffin who was getting her first real break in film. However he grew to positively loath Horst Bucholtz. In his memoirs which came out in the 1970s, Bucholtz was the only colleague who Cagney had anything really critical to say about.

    During the middle of the film being shot, the Russians stopped the flow of traffic from West and East Berlin. Some shots had to be redone around the Brandenburg Gate, a whole set had to be constructed. I suppose a well trained cinema professional could spot the shots where the real and the fake Brandeburg were used. I sure can't. The following year, the Berlin Wall was built, so Wilder got his film done just in time.

    Arlene Francis plays Cagney's exasperated wife and she of What's My Line does just fine. Cagney made an appearance on that show just before shooting started and gave the picture a big old plug.

    The laughs come pretty fast and furious as James Cagney struggles mightily to prevent the arrival of "another bouncing, baby, Bolshevik."
    helpful•63
    9
    • bkoganbing
    • Sep 21, 2005

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    FAQ3

    • What does MacNamara say about alligator shoes offered as possible executive attire for Otto?
    • Lilo Pulver---Who Was She?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 16, 1961 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • German
      • Russian
    • Also known as
      • 1, 2, 3
    • Filming locations
      • Coca-Cola Niederlassung, Hildburghauser Strasse 224 - 232, Lichterfelde, Berlin, Germany(Exterior)
    • Production companies
      • Bavaria Film
      • Pyramid Productions
      • The Mirisch Corporation
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $3,000,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 44 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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