To me, this movie is perfection.

How sad is this?

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

. . . from the 1900s. Not content with merely filling his script with then-contemporary references to the Cuban Missile Crisis, Hollywood starlet-turned-Princess Grace Kelly, Nikita Kruschev's shoe-pounding at the United Nations, the Marshall Plan, the advent of the Berlin Wall, the likelihood of Russians landing the first people on the Moon, Sputnik, shoddy Communist consumer goods, Pan American Airlines, periodic Soviet leadership purges, Nazi war criminals in hiding, "German efficiency," and European nobles serving as men's room attendants, writer\director Billy Wilder has James Cagney quote Edward G. Robinson's final line from LITTLE CAESAR, and he also has Cagney sort of reprise his own infamous grapefruit-to-the-face move from PUBLIC ENEMY (both gangster films from the early 1930s). Therefore, anyone born later than former U.S. Veep Dick Cheney's Loser Generation (that is, the cohort which failed to produce a single American President) will find ONE, TWO, THREE a time capsule of ancient humor, not unlike a classic Greek satire or a Shakespeare comedy. So if YOU were born after 1945, don't watch ONE, TWO, THREE without some sort of Cliff's Notes!

I thought Airplane 1 & 2 were very funny. I liked all the Scary Movies (the comedies). I really liked It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, World with all of the greatest comedians of the time. And Bridesmaids was really funny too.But compared to One Two Three they all are in slow motion.One Two Three is the fastest most witty comedy I have ever seen. I just saw it on cable. And it is one of Billy Wilder's finest films. You cannot afford to laugh as you will miss the next zinger.The comedic innuendos come a flying at ya' and you better have a cup of Dark Roast coffee to stay alert.Fun is made of East/West, North/South, Communism/Capitalism and a ton of everything including society itself. A real tour d'force of life in the 60s and the cold war.Cagney has the fastest and longest lines you have every seen and he is backed up by a great supporting cast. The story is simple: Executive has to confront his capitalistic boss with the fact that his egocentric daughter falls in love with a commie. The quick witted dialogue between the Russian embassy guy and Cagney are great!I have to buy the video and show it too my friends, ASAP. And had to get my 2 cents in for a legacy post.And no CGI special effects, explosions, gun fire, car chases, impending disasters, foot chases, and the big mean bad guy.All dialogue and funny sight gags. Why can't we make this kind of comedy today.

I'd like to buy the world a Coke. I'd like to teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony) isn't what this movie is about. One, Two, Three is a cold war comedy film directed/written by Billy Wilder that makes fun of the Cold War tension. Supposedly, based on the 1929 Hungarian one-act play Egy, kettő, három by Ferenc Molnar, the movie has little to do with Molnar's source material, as Wilder add his own touch to the script. In many ways, Wilder borrow plot elements from his earlier films such as 1939 "Ninotchka', 1954's Sabrina, and others to get this movie, off the ground. Set in West Berlin during the Cold War, before the construction of the Berlin Wall, a high-ranking executive in the Coca-Cola Company, C.R. "Mac" MacNamara (James Cagney) is trying to introduce Coca Cola Operations into the Soviet Union; only for it to backlash, when an upper management, hot-blooded 17 year old daughter, Scarlett Hazeltine (Pamela Tiffin), his family was babysitting, fall in love with a young Communist extremist named Otto (Horst Buchholz). The film is known for its quick pace deliver of lines and action, and it shown with its writing and the music, it does use. Great use of the music from Aram Khachaturian, 'Sabre Dance'. You really get how energetic action, the movie will be. "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" during the interrogation scene was also hilarious. The movie also have clever sexual innuendos as you can tell that the conservative 1950s were ending, and the hip 1960s was about to start. The movie has a lot of politics about life as a communist, and capitalist. All of the jokes were mostly hit than miss for me. One joke even seeming to foreshadow, oncoming the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. The film also had a lot of inside jokes or references from a lot of James Cagney earlier films such as 1942's Yankee Doodle Dandy, 1931's Public Enemy and others. There also a joke about Cagney, himself with the whole idea of sent the money to unemployed cotton pickers of Mississippi. Cagney was accused of being a communist sympathizer for sending money to striking cotton workers in the 1930's. You can really see, how much work, the middle age James Cagney put into the film with his character. Billy Wilder feed him with so many lines that needed to be spoken in a fast pace, that he got overwhelm by the pressure. Add that with his declining health, Cagney decide to quit Hollywood for years after this film. It would be Cagney's last film appearance until 1981's Ragtime, 20 years later. Cagney during the production, had a hard relationship with co-star, Horst Buchholtz, as both of them openly disliked each other. Cagney believe that Horst Buchholz was overacting and scene stealing. While, Horst Buchholtz believe that Cagney was just being a big bully during the making of this film. In my opinion, I think Horst Buchholtz did a good job, and I think Cagney might overreacting to what Horst's character was saying, than the actor. The rest of the supporting cast was alright. Arlene Francis as Phyllis MacNamara got some great one liners, but somewhat comes off as too mean-spirited. Pamela Tiffin was indeed very attractive, but the badly done Southern drawl was bit nail-biting. The production also went through another trouble as locations had to be reshot due to the building of the Berlin Wall, and the crisis that was happening there. The crew and cast had to move to Munich to shoot the missing scenes. The building of the Berlin Wall during production badly hurt the film's marketing in Germany. It was very ill-received by German audiences and had minimal success during its initial run. The film does portray the Germans in a negative light. Still, I have to say, characters like Schlemmer (Hanns Lothar) & Fräulein Ingeborg (Liselotte Pulver) really did stood out. They really have some funny and sexy moments in the film. Another reason, why the Germans didn't like the film was because of Coca Cola. Coca Cola has a long love and hate relationship with Germany. Germany once banned sodas, as they deemed unsuitable for children due to its sugar content and additives. Also, they didn't want it to interference with the beer market that most adults drink at the time. Coca-Cola also adopted an apparent policy of ignoring the practice of eugenics and anti-Semitism by Nazi Germany. By the time, the Cold War came, Coke, took deep advantage of the situation by establishing new franchises in the newly liberated countries where many Germans saw as a threat to their culture. About the movie being about Coca Cola, it didn't hurt the film with its product placement. I didn't mind all the product placement, as long, as it felt like a movie, than a commercial. A few people did hatred that Coke was in the film, like actress Joan Crawford, whom at the time, was a board member of Pepsi. In an odd way, Coke was deem 'too American' for Communists, and Pepsi became the main exported soft drink to Eastern Europe for much of the Cold War after this film. The film was indeed banned from most Eastern European countries. One, Two, Three was even banned in Finland in 1962–1986 on "political" grounds — it was feared that the film would harm the relations between Finland and the Soviet Union. Overall: It's a very hot Cold War movie. A must-watch.

Coca-Cola executive James Cagney (as C.R. "Mac" MacNamara) works in Berlin, Germany; he's trying to sell Coke in the U.S.S.R. As the Russians erect the "Berlin Wall", Mr. Cagney smooches sexy German secretary Lilo Pulver (as Ingeborg); this will, later, upset wife Arlene Francis (as Phyllis). Aiming for a London promotion, Cagney agrees to look after his boss' pretty 17-year-old daughter, Pamela Tiffin (as Scarlett Hazeltine). Ms. Tiffin turns out to be a swinger; out for a hot time, she hooks up with handsome Horst Buchholz (as Otto Ludwig Piffl), and becomes a pregnant bride. To make matters worse, Mr. Buchholz turns out to be a card-carrying Communist. How is Cagney going to explain all this to his Capitalist boss? Doing a "Cagney impersonation," Red Buttons makes a brief appearance. It's one of several scripted references to Cagney's impressive film career.Writer/director Billy Wilder does not accomplish as much without Garbo and Lubitsch; instead, see "Ninotchka" (1939).For some reason, Cagney SHOUTS almost every one of his lines. This adversely affects the other performers, especially Buchholz. Cagney later accused Buchholz of scene-stealing; but, with so much time devoted to the good-looking young man in his boxer shorts, Buchholz didn't have to work very hard. Buchholz' performance is quite good, considering. And, others in the cast were nominated for acting awards: Cagney was the "New York Film Critics" runner-up "Best Actor", Ms. Francis was "Supporting Actress" #3 in the "Film Daily" poll, and Tiffin was a "Golden Globe" nominee. Mostly, this was due to Wilder's reputation; Cagney was not fooled, and decided to semi-retire after "One, Two, Three". Fortunately, Wilder had more classics in his future.***** One, Two, Three (12/15/61) Billy Wilder ~ James Cagney, Horst Buchholz, Pamela Tiffin, Arlene Francis