One, Two, Three

One, Two, Three (1961) is a Billy Wilder cold war comedy that was named as one of Martin Scorsese's favorite all-time films. Thus, I had high expectations for the film that feels very dated. All of the characters are stereotypes, rather than fully formed characters, which works in the farce but seems a bit too on the nose. There's a frantic pace with actors shouting lines-especially James Cagney in one of his last roles before semi-retirement, as a Coca-Cola executive , C.R. McNamara, who has to look after his boss's daughter (Pamela Tiffin) while she is in Berlin. While there she falls for a young East Geman (Horst Buchholz)-hilarity ensues. There are some sporadically good gags and set pieces-for example my favorite was the business dinner McNamara with Russians and his ditzy blonde secretary Lisolette Pulver who dances on the table with "The Sabre Dance" played by a worked up band in the background.