James Cagney tries to sell Coke-a-Cola to the Soviets in “One, Two, Three”

One, Two, Three (1961) is an American political comedy film directed by Billy Wilder and starring James Cagney, Horst Buchholz, Lilo Pulver, Pamela Tiffin, and Arlene Francis. The screenplay was written by Wilder and frequent partner I.A.L. Diamond. The music is by Andre Previn and the cinematography is by Daniel L. Fapp who won an Academy Award for West Side Story (1961).

C.R. “Mac” MacNamara (Cagney) is an executive with the Coca-a-Cola Company, based in West Berlin during the early days of the Cold War. He was sent there after a business failure in the Middle East. Still bitter over the demotion, Mac is determined to become head of the Western European operations in London. While attempting to introduce Coke to the Soviet Union, Mac’s boss asks him to look after his seventeen-year-old daughter Scarlett (Tiffin) when she arrives in Berlin.

Looking for a “marvy” time in Berlin her trip to Europe wasn’t any fun for her. Scarlett goes out every night, unbeknownst Mac and his wife Phyllis (Francis). Every night, Scarlett would sneak over to East Berlin where she met a Russian Communist named Otto (Buchholz). She falls in love with him and they get married. Then, she declares she’s pregnant!

What will Mac do when Scarlett’s parents come to Berlin to take her home to Georgia?

Billy Wilder (1906 - 2002) was an Austrian-born American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He won six Academy Awards for his writing and direction and was nominated twenty-one times over a career that spanned five decades. Wilder started his career as a writer, penning the screenplays for Ninotchka (1939), Ball of Fire (1942), Double Indemnity (1945), The Lost Weekend (1946), Sunset Boulevard (1951)  Boulevard (1951), Sabrina (1955), Some Like it Hot (1960), and The Apartment (1961). As a director, he won Academy Awards for directing The Lost Weekend (1946) and The Apartment (1961). Wilder directed fourteen different actors in Oscar-nominated roles. He is considered one of the most versatile directors from Hollywood’s Classical period.

Billy Wilder (far left), Pamela Tiffin, James Cagney, and Horst Buchholz

James Cagney (1899 – 1986) was an American actor of stage and film. During the early 1930s, Cagney emerged as one of the biggest stars in Hollywood in films like The Public Enemy (1931), Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), and White Heat (1949). Cagney was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor three times, winning for Yankee Doodle Dandy. His other Best Actor nominations was for Angels with Dirty Angels, and Love Me or Leave Me with Doris Day. Cagney retired from acting in 1961 but came out of retirement 20 years later for a role in the movie Ragtime (1981).

Horst Buchholz (1933 - 2003) was a German actor who was once called “the German James Dean” was an international movie star and voice artist. In America, he starred in The Magnificent Seven (1960), One, Two Three (1961). He starred opposite Leslie Caron in Fanny (1961) and Nine Hours to Rama (1963). He’s almost as famous for the roles that got away. He was offered the roles of Tony in West Side Story (1961) and Sherif Ali in Lawrence of Arabia (1962) but scheduling conflicts prevented him from starring in those films.

Pamela Tiffin (1942 – 2020) was an American film, stage, and television actress. She was discovered by producer Hal Wallace while she was on a tour of Paramount Studios. She was given a screen test and was cast in the film version of Summer and Smoke (1961). Her next film was Billy Wilder’s One, Two, Three (1961). Wilder caller her “the biggest find since Audrey Hepburn.” She was nominated for a Golden Globe award for her first two roles. Other roles followed in State Fair (1962), Come Fly with Me (1963), The Pleasure Seekers (1963). She made two films with James Darren geared for the teen audience: For Those Who Think Young (1964) and The Lively Set (1964). In 1965 she co-starred with Burt Lancaster, Lee Remick, and Jim Hutton in The Hallelujah Trail. She also co-starred with Paul Newman in Harper (1966). In 1967, she won a Theatre World Award for her performance in Dinner at Eight on Broadway.

Arlene Francis (1907 – 2001) was an American stage, television, and film actress. Her career spanned more than five decades. Francis also gained fame as a radio personality in New York City. She made her film debut in 1932 in Murders in the Rue Morgue. Sixteen years later, she appeared with Edward G. Robinson and Burt Lancaster in the film version of All My Sons (1948). Perhaps her greatest claim to fame was as a weekly panelist on the popular game show What My Line (1950 – 1967). Francis’s last film role was in Fedora (1978) directed by Billy Wilder. She earlier worked for the director in One, Two, Three playing James Cagney’s wife.

 

One, Two, Three trivia

• The film lost money due to folks thinking the Cold War wasn’t a good subject for comedy at that time.
• Joan Crawford (then on the board of Pepsi) didn’t like the Coke-Cola connection. At the end of the film, Cagney buys four Cokes but the last one out of the machine was a Pepsi.
• The building of the Berlin Wall impacted filming with the crew moving to Munich, building the lower half of the Brandenburg Gate.
• James Cagney hated working with Horst Buchholz. Cagney complained that he was uncooperative and was always trying to steal scenes. It was so unpleasant for Cagney that he retired from movies until he accepted a supporting role in Ragtime.
• In 1985, the film was rereleased in France and Germany and was a big hit.
• There are many homages to other Wilder and Cagney films. Can you name some?

 

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Click HERE to watch the film on YouTube.

 

Discussion questions

1. Can you understand why the film wasn’t well received when first released? Why do you think the film is now considered a classic by many?
2. This was Cagney’s last film before appearing Ragtime (1985). What did you think of his performance?
3. Horst Buchholz was reportedly a thorn in Cagney and Wilder’s side. What did you think of his performance?
4. Wilder was really high on Pamela Tiffin as Scarlett, comparing her to Audrey Hepburn. Some people might declare “blasphemy” with this comparison. What do you think?
5. Is there anything that is still relevant between the Capitalist and Communist systems?
6. The film is loaded with great dialogue; did you have a favorite line or scene?