Film Review: One, Two, Three

"One, Two, Three"
**** (out of ****)

The year is 1961. It is the height of the Cold War. John F. Kennedy has been sworn in as President. The Berlin Wall has been built. The Soviets have sent the first human in space during the Space Race. In the middle of all this filmmaker Billy Wilder released one of his best movies and one of the all-time great comedies, "One, Two, Three" (1961).

As the story goes Billy Wilder saw the makings of a comedy dealing with the arms race between America and the U.S.S.R. In fact Wilder envisioned it as a Marx Brothers comedy. The film was to be called "The Marx Brothers at the U.N." The brothers would play bank robbers who are mistaken for delegates of Latvia. It is said Groucho loved the idea but due to health reasons (Harpo suffered a heart attack) plans for the film were terminated.

Despite these unfortunate events, Wilder still liked the idea of a Cold War comedy and would now base his film on a Hungarian play written by Ferenc Molnar called "One, Two, Three" ("Egy, ketto, harom" in Hungarian). Wilder and his frequent collaborator I.A.L. Diamond would modernized the 1929 play and create what biographer Maurice Zolotow called "the best Cold-War comedy, and the only interesting film about communism versus capitalism since Ninotchka" in his book Billy Wilder in Hollywood. "Ninotchka" (1939) was a comedy directed by Ernst Lubitsch and co-written by Wilder. Both movies tell us political ideology is no match for sex.

The film would star James Cagney as C.R. MacNamara (Although the spelling is different the Secretary of Defense at the time was Robert McNamara. That couldn't be a coincidence, could it?) an American Coca-Cola executive in charge of operations in West Berlin.

MacNamara would like to get out of West Berlin and land in job in London as head of Western Europe operations. He may get a chance to make a good impression when his boss' daughter, Scarlett (Pamela Tiffin), visits West Berlin and he is asked to watch her for a couple of weeks until the boss and his wife visit West Berlin to pick her up.

On the day before his boss is to pick up Scarlett, MacNamara discovers not only has Scarlett married a communist, Otto (Horst Buchholz) but is pregnant with his child. Initially wanting to wipe out all records of the marriage MacNamara must turn Otto into a respectable capitalist before Scarlett's parents arrive. Causing another battle between east versus west in Berlin.

That essentially explains the humor in the movie. A battle between capitalism and communism. In "One, Two, Three" the communist aren't dedicated soldiers. They flounder. A pretty woman could tempt them to change their politics. They will accept a 6 pack of coca-cola as a bribe. Whereas MacNamara, the American, is unchangeable. If anything Americans are presented as wanting to bring their way of life to other countries. Why else could a corporation like Coca-Cola want to sell its product to communist countries? And doesn't this happen in the real world as well?

Also adding to the humor is domestic life. MacNamara is married to Phyllis (Arlene Francis). Phyllis is a wise-cracking wife that sarcastically calls her husband "mein fuhrer" and desperately wants to leave West Berlin and head back to America. I couldn't help but think this is a role Eve Arden could have also played and her probably could have delivered these lines funnier. However, Francis is perfectly fine in the role.

The success of "One, Two, Three" lies in the script by Wilder and Diamond and the performance given by Cagney. What is most memorable (and most challenging) about Cagney's performance is the speed with which he delivers his lines. It is like the rapid fire of a machine gun. This was actually the way the original play was written by Molnar. Molnar is quoted as having said of the lead character's dialogue, "he must accomplish everything he does with the almost superhuman celerity of a magician, without, however, any lack of poise, presence of mind or precision". Wilder and Diamond put their own spin on this and suggested the dialogue be said at a speed they called "molto furioso".

In Kevin Lally's book Wilder Times: The Life of Billy Wilder  he writes the exact instructions for the dialogue was for it to be said at "100 miles an hour - on the curves - 140 miles an hour on the straightaway".

Cagney, who was 61 at the time of shooting, was Wilder's first and only choice for the lead. Despite Wilder's eagerness  to work with Cagney, rumor has it the two men did not get along. Cagney found the production too stressful. In fact, things were so bad between the two Cagney retired from films for 20 years until his role in "Ragtime" (1981). One of the sources of the problem? You guess it. The dialogue. Wilder would repeatedly tell Cagney to say his lines faster causing Cagney at one point to tell one of his co-stars " I don't want to make another film with this man (Wilder). He makes me speak too fast."

Oh, but that dialogue! Read this exchange:

Woman # 1 - Have you ever made love to a revolutionary?

Woman # 2 - No, but I once necked with a Stevenson Democrat.

Is that not great?

The dialogue also serves to make political statements as when Cagney delivers a voice-over explaining who his character is and the location of the story. He says of West Berlin it "enjoyed all the blessings of democracy". As this line is said, at the moment the word "democracy" is spoken, we see a Coca-Cola billboard. What a powerful commentary that is. "Democracy" equals consumerism. I'm reminded of a routine comedian George Carlin had on the freedom of democracy which he called an illusion of choice. That's your freedom. Consumerism. You can buy Pepsi or Coca-Cola. Those are your choices. That's what you have a say in but not government policy.

I also like how Cagney plays with his screen image and makes references to past Cagney roles. At one point in the movie MacNamara says "Mother of mercy! Is this the end of Little Rico?" This is a reference to the gangster character Edward G. Robinson played in "Little Caesar" (1931). While Cagney didn't star in that movie, he and Robinson were known for their roles playing gangsters. MacNamara has a cuckoo clock that plays "Yankee Doodle Dandy" on the hour. Cagney starred in the movie "Yankee Doodle Dandy" (1942). Also, Red Buttons has a small role and at one point does a Cagney impression in front of Cagney.

Wilder's sharp commentary on the Cold War proved to be a bit too much for audiences and movie critics (sheep) at the time. Some critics, like Pauline Kael, felt the movie treated a serious subject too lightly. As an example, when one character is asked to describe his feelings on the international situation he says, "it's hopeless but not serious". Kael even called Wilder a sellout. She even made similar complaints about Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove" (1964). "One, Two, Three" also did poorly at the box-office. It seems Kael wasn't the only one not ready for a comedy about the Cold War.

However, the ultimate judge of any movie is time. "One, Two, Three" doesn't sting audiences the way it may have in 1961. The political satire presented seems playful not threatening. But, I'm reluctant to say the movie is widely accepted as one of Wilder's best. I get the impression it is lost in the shuffle compared to "Some Like It Hot" (1959), "Double Indemnity" (1944), "Sunset Boulevard" (1950) or "The Apartment" (1960). As far as I am concerned though the movie is a knock-out.

That's what makes the great movies great. They hold a mirror up to society. The great comedies exaggerate our behavior and make us laugh at ourselves and the world around us. "One, Two, Three" does that. A movie like this also demonstrates the versatility of Billy Wilder's talent. For this movie he was criticized for treating a topic too lightly yet Wilder was also praised for making one of the most realistic films ever about alcoholism, "The Lost Weekend" (1945). That suggest Wilder's great talent and the greatness of "One, Two, Three". Different movies need different tones to get their point across. Wilder seems to have always found the right tone for the right story.