I finished off my cold war film festival with Billy Wilder's One, Two, Three. James Cagney plays C.R. MacNamara an executive with Coca-Cola, managing the West Berlin operation at the height of the cold war. He hopes to introduce Coca-Cola to the Russians and be promoted to the head of all European operations in London.
His dreams of a promotion are put in danger when he is asked to watch after the bosses daughter. She is touring Europe with a stop in West Berlin for two weeks. Her visit is extended to two months and what MacNamara doesn't know, is that she has been sneaking out every night to see a boy in East Berlin. He finds out when she comes home one morning to announce she is married, to a communist! His first instinct is to break up the marriage, but when he finds out she is pregnant, he needs to get them back together. And he only has 36 hours to do it in, since her parents are flying from Atlanta to see her.
The film's sharp wit targets everyone from communists to capitalists, Americans, Germans and Russians. It's a fast paced, satirical farce with Cagney carrying the film. This was Cagney's last film before retirement (he would come out of retirement for 1981's Ragtime) and he is as fast on his feet as ever. Known for his gangster roles, it's great to see him in a flat out comedy. Arlene Francis is excellent as his long suffering wife and the rest of the cast hold their own against Cagney's energetic performance.
This film does not have the reputation as some of Wilder's other works and it might be because it is so topical. There are so many jokes that reference East/West relations and world affairs in 1961 that if you are not familiar with that time period you won't get them.
At The Movie House rating ***1/2 stars.
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