It was around 20 years before James Cagney subsequently re-appeared in a film role. It would be little surprise if he based that decision partly on the amount of effort he had made and energy he had used, in his portrayal of MacNamara, the head of Coca-cola in West Berlin at the height of the Cold War, in this most wonderful of films, One Two Three.
Without doubt this is the fastest-moving, most exhausting film I have watched, so what it must have been like for the cast and crew is difficult to imagine. But Billy Wilder has directed a masterpiece of comedy and satire, with Cagney absolutely excellent. I would love to know how many takes were required for some of the scenes, as there was much to memorise and deliver and all at break-neck speed.
With one exception the supporting cast, both American and European, play their parts to perfection, made easier by some great one-liners from the writers. I would have given this film full marks had someone other than the late Horst Buchholz played the part of the idealistic but hapless young Communist, who eventually marries the daughter of the main man of Coca Cola. His acting just does not gel with the rest of the cast, while his part required someone with a much lighter touch who could have made us laugh.
The test of any film for me is whether I can imagine I am really in the location and with One Two Three I most certainly felt I was in Berlin, around 1960. Indeed having been to East Berlin myself during the cold war, the drab surroundings and entertainment on offer in the "nightclub" scene,(excluding of course the great part when Ingeborg did her sexy dance on the table to tempt the Russians), was not that far from the truth. The car chase that followed when the Russian car kept dropping to bits was just hilarious.
While Wilder took every opportunity to mercilessly satire the Communist system, he still had a few barbed swipes at American-led capitalism and did not spare the West Berliners for their Nazi past. But despite such deadly serious matters he manages on all occasions throughout the film to cloak them into satirical comedy, which is no mean feat.
I never tire of watching One Two Three as it regularly appears on British TV and I also have the DVD. However one thing that does rather mystify me when I look back on this film is why Pamela Tiffin did not become a superstar. She was beautiful, funny and talented.
But two people who did go the whole journey in their careers were Cagney and Wilder and we are very fortunate that they came together in this most memorable film when both were in superb form.
Without doubt this is the fastest-moving, most exhausting film I have watched, so what it must have been like for the cast and crew is difficult to imagine. But Billy Wilder has directed a masterpiece of comedy and satire, with Cagney absolutely excellent. I would love to know how many takes were required for some of the scenes, as there was much to memorise and deliver and all at break-neck speed.
With one exception the supporting cast, both American and European, play their parts to perfection, made easier by some great one-liners from the writers. I would have given this film full marks had someone other than the late Horst Buchholz played the part of the idealistic but hapless young Communist, who eventually marries the daughter of the main man of Coca Cola. His acting just does not gel with the rest of the cast, while his part required someone with a much lighter touch who could have made us laugh.
The test of any film for me is whether I can imagine I am really in the location and with One Two Three I most certainly felt I was in Berlin, around 1960. Indeed having been to East Berlin myself during the cold war, the drab surroundings and entertainment on offer in the "nightclub" scene,(excluding of course the great part when Ingeborg did her sexy dance on the table to tempt the Russians), was not that far from the truth. The car chase that followed when the Russian car kept dropping to bits was just hilarious.
While Wilder took every opportunity to mercilessly satire the Communist system, he still had a few barbed swipes at American-led capitalism and did not spare the West Berliners for their Nazi past. But despite such deadly serious matters he manages on all occasions throughout the film to cloak them into satirical comedy, which is no mean feat.
I never tire of watching One Two Three as it regularly appears on British TV and I also have the DVD. However one thing that does rather mystify me when I look back on this film is why Pamela Tiffin did not become a superstar. She was beautiful, funny and talented.
But two people who did go the whole journey in their careers were Cagney and Wilder and we are very fortunate that they came together in this most memorable film when both were in superb form.