One, Two, Three

Note : this review is my contribution to the Billy Wilder blogathon hosted by Outspoken & Freckled & Once Upon a Screen.

Poster by Saul Bass

One, Two, Three (Billy Wilder, 1961)

C.R. "Mac" MacNamara (James Cagney) is a high-ranking executive in the Coca-Cola Company, assigned to West Berlin after a business fiasco a few years earlier in the Middle East (about which he is still bitter). Nevertheless, Mac is angling to become head of Western European Coca-Cola Operations, based in London. After working on an arrangement to introduce Coke into the Soviet Union, Mac receives a call from his boss, W.P. Hazeltine (Howard St. John) in Atlanta. Scarlett Hazeltine (Pamela Tiffin), the boss's hot-blooded but slightly dim 17-year-old socialite daughter, is coming to Berlin and Mac is assigned the unenviable task of taking care of this young whirlwind.

Producer/director Billy Wilder is mostly remembered for his comedies like Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, and The Seven Year Itch. With One, Two, Three he once again goes into the comedic territory with lots of success. First, with his leading man James Cagney as Mac the ambitious executive of the Coca-Cola Company, by the way one of the most distinctive symbols of Capitalism, in the Berlin of the time they build the Berlin Wall. In fact, they were forced to leave Berlin for Munich to continue the shooting of the film because of the rising of the Wall. With his visions of expansion he has to deal with communists and Russians. With fast paced dialogues, Wilder wanted to make a funny film that would be like a whirlwind of jokes and strong moments. Much like, let’s say, Howard Hawks’ His Girl Friday.

One, Two, Three is also the last film of actor James Cagney before his retirement and also one of his great performances. He carries the film on his own. He also represents the classic Hollywood in the early 1960's where the New Hollywood was about to take the silver screen and put aside those dusty stars and directors. 

Almost entirely shot into Mac’s office and some exteriors of Berlin and the airport, One, Two, Three demonstrates how a strong script can set everything for a great comedy. Written by Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond, the plot is intelligent and is like a mix of Ninotchka, that Wilder co-wrote, and an Hungarian one act play by Ferenc Molnar. It is truly a great use of the stereotypes of the time on the battle between the West and the East. Much like the battle between Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola; to use another figure that the film offers. One of the annoying things of this movie is the fact that the dialogues are so fast that they are almost yelled all along the picture. But much like any other screwball comedies it is almost an entire dispute the entire film that characterizes the genre. So yes they yell but every line is a pleasure and the delivery from Cagney, Pamela Tiffin, Arlene Francis, Lilo Pulver, Horst Buchholz, Hanns Lothar, and Howard St. John is deadpan funny.

 As often, heavy dramas gain respect and recognition and most of the time get the biggest awards. One, Two, Three is no rest with that and Cagney could at least been nominated for his performance at the Oscars. However, this movie isn’t on many lists of great films and not even on AFI’s 100 Comedies. It leaves me wondering who makes those lists and on which standards do they make their picks because this is definitely an omission. One of the greatest lesser known films from Billy Wilder who often gets its impact diminished because he left a bigger mark as a master at comedies than in a more serious genre. A great comedy that I highly recommend.

The Seven Year Itch

The Seven Year Itch (Billy Wilder, 1955)

This romantic comedy staring Marylin Monroe and Tom Ewell became one of the most iconic moments of Monroe’s career. The famous white dress blowing over the subway trap that unveils her legs to the audience and the male main character.

Ace in the Hole

Ace in the Hole aka The Big Carnival (Billy Wilder, 1951)

American film noir starring Kirk Douglas as a cynical, disgraced reporter who stops at nothing to try to regain a job on a major newspaper.

The Fortune Cookie

The Fortune Cookie (Billy Wilder, 1966)

CBS cameraman Harry Hinkle (Jack Lemmon) gets injured when football player Luther "Boom Boom" Jackson (Ron Rich) runs into him while he is covering a Browns game at Cleveland Stadium. Harry's injuries are minor, but his conniving lawyer brother-in-law William H. "Whiplash Willie" Gingrich (Walter Matthau) convinces him to pretend that his leg and hand have been partially paralyzed. This way, they can receive a huge indemnity from the insurance company. Harry reluctantly goes along with the scheme because he is still in love with his ex-wife, Sandy (Judi West), and it might win her back.

The Lost Weekend

The Lost Weekend (Billy Wilder, 1945)

The film recounts the life of an alcoholic New York writer, Don Birnam (Ray Milland), over the last half of a six-year period, and in particular on a weekend alcoholic binge.

The Apartment

The Apartment (Billy Wilder, 1960)

A man tries to rise in his company by letting its executives use his apartment for trysts, but complications and a romance of his own ensue.

The appreciation of a movie can change from a person to another, from a director like Billy Wilder who directed his share of notable pictures, one can argue that Some Like it Hot was better than The Apartment or that his crowning achievement is Sunset Blvd. The same can be said about the director himself, the late Andrew Sarris used to lower the income of Wilder into Cinema and might compare him to a John Ford for whom he ranked as a pantheon director. Being an absolute fan of comedies, I cannot pass under the radar the filmography of Wilder. His sardonic, acerbic touch and his unique screenwriting rank him amongst the greats, in my own top.

Top Films of Billy Wilder by LMdC

"Although known for their caustic wit, Wilder’s films fluctuate between two polarities—the utterly romantic and the utterly cynical. The best of his work—Avanti (1972), The Apartment (1960), Sunset Boulevard (1949)—blends the two. At the extremes, however, we have the romantic The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1969) and the cynical Ace in the Hole (1951) and Kiss Me Stupid (1964). But all of Wilder’s films share the director’s idea that the very existence of his characters is at stake." - Ken Dancyger, The Director's Idea: The Path to Great Directing

1. Sunset Blvd.

2. Double Indemnity

3. The Apartment

4. Some Like It Hot

5. Ace in the Hole
6. One, Two, Three
7. The Seven Year Itch
8. The Lost Weekend
9. The Fortune Cookie 
10. Stalag 17

11. Irma La Douce

12. The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

Still need to see: Five Graves to Cairo, The Major and the Minor, A Foreign Affair, Sabrina, Witness for the Prosecution, Kiss Me, Stupid, Love in the Afternoon, The Spirit of St. Louis, Avanti!, The Front Page, Fedora, The Emperor Waltz, The World's Greatest Lover, Buddy Budd.

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (Billy Wilder, 1970)

When a bored Holmes eagerly takes the case of Gabrielle Valladon after an attempt on her life, the search for her missing husband leads to Loch Ness and the legendary monster.

#12 Billy Wilder

Cinephiles who voted for Billy Wilder:
Michaël Parent
Iain Stott

Lists:
The Cinematheque
Digital Dreamdoor
Entertainment Weekly
MovieMaker
nighthawknews
Sight & Sound 2002 Poll (directors)
They Shoot Pictures Don't They?
Total Film

Stalag 17

Stalag 17 begins with the narration of a shadowed character of the film, Stalag 17 announces; I'm tired of War films. Well, it's not a traditional War film like The Longest Day or Saving Private Ryan. Stalag 17 may be one of the many influences of Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. You have the context of World War II but you see none of it apart of the Nazi uniforms. Stalag 17 fells like Jean Renoir's Grand Illusion without being deeply involve in pre-War pacifist message.

Set in a nazi prison, Stalag 17 is the barrack where we follow a group of American prisoners that live together. They discover that there is an informer in their barrack. It's a story based on true American values: loyalty, pride, humor, friendship, and mercantilism. I always find it funny to watch a film that vehicles American values and ridiculing the German captors made by a born Germanized (Poland) director; Billy Wilder. Well, it's known that he earned his American citizenship and he had to escape from Germany after Hitler took power because of his Jewish ancestors. It's no surprise when we learned that he wrote Ninotchka for another German immigrate director; Ernst Lubitsch. The two films are about the American values and life. These outsiders tend to understand better the land that welcomed and rescued them from Nazi oppression.

Far from being a masterpiece, Stalag 17 is an efficient film and a very good entertainment. It's not a surprise to see this film in IMDb Top 250 movies. Billy Wilder's films have this quality of pure entertainment and this freshness that make them hold within all these years. The performances, especially William Holden who earned an Oscar, are strong and the story is fresh and funny. A classic in the prison film genre!

A Film Retrospective by Michaël Parent