One, Two, Three

Great movie.

Filmed in Berlin; production was actually interrupted and relocated because of the Wall's construction during principal filming. They filmed the movie about current(ish) events even as actual current events convinced people that a nuclear World War 3 was about to break out any day.Fantastic movie. Especially if you're a history buff or an old history buff like me. You have to feel sorry for the young and dumb who will miss the constant layers jokes so obvious to the audiences of the time.

Cagney is remembered by many for gangster films, but he is also great at comedy. Director Billy Wilder is one of the greats, and he doesn't disappoint here. This is a fast paced film, with snappy dialogue and lots of comic action. Cagney's character is a Coca Cola executive is West Berlin; I showed this to a friend who worked for a Coca Cola bottler and the sight gag at the end brought loud laughter.This Billy Wilder film isn't as well know as The Apartment, Some Like it Hot or Sunset Boulevard, but it should be.

I saw this movie as a teenager in the '60's and thought it was hilarious! It is still funny, but is a bit dated. I lived in Berlin on 1970, and again recently, and so the Berlin locations in the movie are interesting to me.

A great comedy for the 60s

An ambitious American Coca-Cola executive in Berlin is a promising plot line which James Cagney and an excellent cast turn into a great comedy film. There are numerous small points that please the eye and add to the enjoyment of the film. The office staff springing to attention each time "the boss" enters the room is great. The German office manager who reflexively clicks his heels each time Cagney addresses him - he barely resists the stiff armed salute, is another pleasing sequence and gives a glimpse of his former life before Coke. Cagney's passionate pursuit of his secretary is equally fun to watch - you realize that his wife will ultimately know, which adds to the fun and sense of inevitability.Tasked with keeping an eye on his boss's daughter, who is mostly occupied with chasing boys, becomes Cagney's all consuming passion and concern. His total inability to carry out this task is what makes this movie so amusing. He can control Coca-Cola operations in Europe, but not a teenaged girl. Cagney's East German/Soviet Bloc opponents seem like the "usual suspects" in send up movies, but they all work well in their quest for the secret formula that makes Coke so successful. Cagney's cataloging of their failed attempts is side-spliotting. The double talk and double dealing is non-stop and excellently done and just adds to the fun of the film.This is a film that is little known but it shouldn't be. Made at the end of Cagney's career, it highlights just how versatile he was as an actor and what a great comedic actor he was. Anyone with an interest in Cagney would enjoy this film and view it more than once.This is also a chance to see Berlin before it was altered and changed by the erection of the Berlin Wall which was went up not too long after this film was made. It is a Berlin under the four powers that few will understand now that the city and country have been reunified.

A Billy Wilder screwball comedy. Jimmy Cagney just dominates as the frantic Coke executive in post-war Berlin. Hilarious.

When you say Billy Wilder you automatically think, SUNSET BLVD, SOME LIKE IT HOT, and THE APARTMENT. Which is understandable because Wilder is a master storyteller and those are just some of the best movies ever made.I love them as well but if I had to pick a drama from Wilder that was my favorite it would be ACE IN THE HOLE starring Kirk Douglas in his best role ever.The comedy that I would pick though, and I love SOME LIKE IT HOT don't get me wrong, is ONE TWO THREE a Cold War comedy about Capitalism, Communism, sex, and Coca-Cola. If you loved Kubrick's DR. STRANGELOVE then you'll love this. James Cagney here is the operational manager of the Berlin office of Coca-Cola who is trying to broker a deal with East Berlin and the Communist satellites of the USSR. What goes down is just a quick pace comedy that just does not let up and James Cagney, in my personal view , in one of his best roles ever. Better then WHITE HEAT? OK let's not go crazy here. Cagnet in WHITE HEAT is just plain unbeatable. ONE TWO THREE is a great comedy if you get the comedy. It is bold, brash, unforgiving, and face paced for it's time which you do ask questions along the way of "How in the hell did Wilder get away with that?" So much fun. So much laughter. I just love this film. Oh check out ACE IN THE HOLE too.