One, Two, Three
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Movie Reviews of One, Two, Three
Movie Review: Sitzen Machen!...and Fasten Your Seatbelts
Summary: 4 Stars
This film snuck up on me while I was randomly tuned to Turner Classic Movies. Till then I had never heard of it; now it's a must for my collection! One, Two, Three has to be the funniest madcap amalgam of Cold War farce ever produced short of Dr. Strangelove!
James Cagney is hilarious and just barely in control as the head of Coca-Cola's bottling plant in early '60s West Berlin. His plan is to penetrate the market east of the Iron Curtain and eventually become head of European operations in London. An unusual deal is about to be struck with the Soviet and East German commissars, but things rapidly go awry with the arrival in Berlin of the free-spirited and very Scarlett O'Hara-like teenage daughter (Pamela Tiffen) of Coca-Cola's Atlanta chief executive. Her secret overnight excursions on the other side of the Brandenburg Gate are the jumpstart to a non-stop satirical laugh-fest that spares no nationality, social class, nor political persuasion.
Horst Buchholz stars as the daughter's fervidly communist love interest who would just as soon kill himself as to kowtow to capitalist corruption. His incessant (and eventually somewhat tiring) string of mono-political rhetoric in the face of Cagney's schemes and those of the duplicitous communist commissars carries through to a zany conclusion that drips with none-too-subtle irony.
Seen today, some of the jokes might seem dated. Also, some might find the ethnic humor and the depiction of abject subservience of women to be somewhat off-putting. One thinks, however, that the filmmakers were looking to make a comic testament to the absurdity of both the Cold War stand-off at that time as well as of extreme idealism on both ends of the political spectrum. It's a film that those who remember the era will find nostalgically humorous, and toward which today's younger viewers might be curious. I laughed my head off!
If you're looking for quiet subtlety, look elsewhere. Cagney is on top of his game and pulls out all the stops along with writer-director Billy Wilder. Capitalists and communists alike will be splitting their sides.
Sitzen machen!...and fasten your seatbelts for hilarity.
Movie Review: Full of Stereotypes and Spoofs of Stereotypes
Summary: 4 Stars
This movie is built on the crass stereotyping of national, regional, and personal characteristics: all Germans are heal-clicking former Nazis; Communists on the surface are dedicated ideologists but really crave a life of Western decadence; American southerners (men) are right-wing imbeciles navigating the complexities of life on a few cherished prejudices; young American (southern) women are insatiable nymphomaniacs (is that redundant?); and James Cagney is a one-dimensional actor. Such an underpinning for a movie would not seem, at first glance, to offer much promise. But the one-dimensional acting style of Cagney, which ruined Love Me or Leave Me (the movie with Doris Day based on the life of Ruth Etting), is perfect for this manic-paced farce. For nearly the entire movie, Cagney unleashes a barrage of breathless monologues, simultaneously exhausting and amazing the viewer.That the movie is a farce does not mean it lacks a serious side. The stereotypes are so rigid, and played so extravagantly, that it is hard to escape the conclusion that the movie is designed to outrage those insulted (especially southerners) and mock anyone who agrees with the stereotypes. Cagney himself is mocked by an MP who does a Cagney imitation in response to one of Cagney's imperious orders. On another level, the movie can be seen as a critique of censorship. In the Soviet Union, all film had to toe the Communist ideological line. If the same standard were applied to US movies by US censors, the result might well be something like One, Two, Three. And indeed, to ideological purists the world is as simple as one, two, three.
Movie Review: Watch, This, Movie
Summary: 4 Stars
James Cagney has always been one of my favorite actors. He has the ability to be dramatic, do song and dance, and, especially in the case of "One, Two, Three", be funny. He plays a Coca-Cola division manager in West Germany in the 1960's. He's hoping for a promotion and the big boss's daughter is coming to visit. His efforts to look after her don't work out as planned and the problems and sollutions regarding her visit make up the core of "One, Two, Three". Cagney is quick-witted and with his delivery makes the movie move along at a fast clip. There is a good supporting cast and Billy Wilder, as the director, knows how to make a good comedy work. There are a few slow parts but once the action gets going you have to run to keep up with it.
If you're not familiar with the Cold War, some of this might not make a lot of sense. The relationship between West and East Berlin needs to be understood in the context of its' time. The Coca-Cola/Pepsi-Cola rivalry was another battle that doesn't get fought as hard these days either. Through it all is Cagney. It's a shame that his latter career offered him such limited opprotunity to display his many skills. Part of that may have been his own fault. He teemed up with his brother after leaving his studio contract. Most of the movies of his I've seen that were produced by William Cagney were not very good. However, he's back in style in "One, Two, Three."
Movie Review: Billy Wilder's Amazing Rapid-Fire Comedy
Summary: 4 Stars
Our setting is West Berlin, Germany, just after the Second World War where James Cagney plays C.R. MacNamara, a Coca-Cola executive assigned to look after his boss's daughter Scarlett Hazeltine (Pamela Tiffin) while her parents are away vacationing in Europe. As the story progresses Scarlett falls in love with an East German Communist named Otto Piffl, played by Horst Buchholz. When MacNamara finds out that the underaged Scarlett is engaged to be married all hell breaks loose as he (with the help of his assistant Schlemmer) hastly undertakes the task of transforming Piffl into a respectable, presentable, and noble husband when Mr. and Mrs. Hazeltine arrive back to greet their daughter.
MacNamara's trouble doesn't end there, however. Phyllis MacNamara (Arlene Francis) is unhappy with her life in Berlin, and for the sake of their children she pleads with her husband to take back his old position in Atlanta and return to live in the United States. He refuses and she threatens to leave him.
Billy Wilder directs this fast-paced comedy with sheer brilliance it will leave your head spinning. The cast here is top-notch and James Cagney is non-stop hilarious. For a film that has at least a chuckle a minute it is nowhere to be found on AFI's Top 100 Laughs. Fans of Howard Hawks' "His Girl Friday" should enjoy and appreciate this highly underrated farcical gem.
Movie Review: My Teenage Girls Loved It
Summary: 4 Stars
I put this film in the player with some trepidation. I hadn't seen Billy Wilder's "One, Two, Three" since I watched it as a kid on television. I wondered if it would have held up through the years. I wanted to see it again because it was Wilder. "The Apartment", "Some Like It Hot", "Double Indemnity", "Sunset Blvd." - these are some of my favorite films. But in some of Wilder's later work was frankly, pretty awful ("Kiss Me, Stupid", "Avanti" and worst of all, "Buddy, Buddy".)
I was concerned that a film about a salesman (Jimmy Cagney in his last role before Rag Time) trying to bring Coca Cola to the Solviet Union just prior to the building of the Berlin Wall would be more than a little dated.
I watched it with my teen agers and wondered if there would be too many gags and references they just wouldn't get.
I'm glad to say the film holds up remarkably well. For one thing, Wilder directed it at quite a clip and the jokes keep coming, so even is some jokes about '60s politicians don't hold, more jokes are on the way.
We all laughed very hard at what was meant to be a slam of rock music, but holds up because of the song used (no spoilers here.)
Sure, it's no "The Apartment". It's no "Some Like It Hot" (though it has a very funny drag scene.)But it's far superior to "The Seven Year Itch".