Movie Review: One, Two, Three

I’m here with a doozy of a movie for you this week. It’s a great example of a film I had never even heard of, but which I thoroughly enjoyed. I’m betting that if I never heard of it, you haven’t either. That’s my favorite kind of movie to find, really. The film in question this time? One, Two, Three. It stars James Cagney as a Coca Cola executive in Berlin right before the wall goes up. And it’s a comedy. Not just any kind of comedy–total slapstick. The premise is fairly simple. Cagney wants to move up in the Coca Cola world, and the boss’s daughter comes to Berlin for a two week stay. All Cagney has to do is keep her under control. Easy enough, he thinks. Then she slips across the border and marries a card carrying Commie. Hilarity ensues. The movie takes its time getting everything set up, but once it pulls the trigger, it’s nonstop action and humor right up until the end. Denisa and I both really enjoyed it. Oh–and did I mention it’s directed by Billy Wilder? He better be a name in your director book: Sabrina, Stalag 17, Some Like it Hot, The Apartment, Sunset Blvd., Double Indemnity–all of them classics. Check this one out–it’s on instant streaming on Netflix.

On a side note, it was also fascinating to see the portrayal of the Cold War conflict well before it got really Cold. In fact, the Berlin Wall went up during the filming of this movie–that had to finish filming elsewhere because of the politics involved.