One, Two, Three
1961 Directed by Billy Wilder
Synopsis
One, Two, Three – A scorching business comedy that plays during the Cold War in Berlin, Germany. With it’s political satire director Billy Wilder depicts the fight between capitalism and communism with panic, scrutiny and surprises, filmed during the building of the Berlin Wall.
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Possibly inspired by Hawks’s His Girl Friday, Wilder packs more dialogue per second than one could think possible. The nods and winks quotient is also probably the highest I’ve ever seen. This was just with the ones I recognized. Mining IMDB ratchets that number up even further.
What I thought was clever were all the backhanded swipes at Capitalism deftly disguised as overt swipes at Communism. Piffl’s future in Russia, a poor rocket scientist with his sights set on Venus, his fate in London, a rich propagandist for a fizzy drink. Twigged me as the antithesis of Steve Job’s remark to Robert Sculley "Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want…
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Okay, so you guys may be the first to shoot a man to the moon, but if he wants a Coke on the way, you'll have to come to us.
Billy Wilder is one director that doesn't always match the hype for me, but I must admit that, when he delivers, he does so in spades. One, Two, Three may not be his best work, but it's a damn solid piece of film. Just like with his older brother Stalag 17, Wilder manages not only to produce a great comedy, but also to leave not-so subtle nods to certain issues and events that were recent or even contemporary of those days. In this particular case, he tackles Capitalism and the…
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I can't say much here because I slept through much of it and had to walk out for the rest because as much as I hate to admit it, James Cagney drives me bonkers with his constant yelling. I couldn't take it anymore. That's two Cagney pictures I see where he just yells, so I'm going to stay away from his films for a good long while.
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One of the funnest movies I have seen this year. It’s so fully entrenched in the Cold War era, and yet has the balls to make fun of the whole shebang, righties and lefties alike. It’s freaking hilarious, if a little (necessarily) dated. I highly recommend!
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Billy Wilder is one of those directors that makes everything he touches turn to gold. Whether it be Comedy, Drama, or Noir, Wilder's fast paced and always fun films are of the highest quality. One, Two, Three, a comedy written by Wilder and IAL Diamond, Wilder's collaborator on The Apartment and Some Like it Hot, is a first rate farce about capitalism, communism, consumerism, love, and class, with tons of laughs. James Cagney plays a mid-level Coca-Cola executive who's life is turned upside down when the daughter of his boss gets married to a communist while in his care in Berlin. Along the way, Cagney's character deals with everyone, from bumbling executives to Soviet police, all while trying to spin…
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+ It's probably bad how much I enjoyed the commercialism and jabs at communism
+ I love the setting and that they actually filmed in Berlin rather than some American backlot. They even had to move when the Berlin wall went up and when they released the film said "imagine it's 1960"
+ I like the secretary lady and daughter they very purdy
- The 'make him a perfect son in law' sequence went on was pretty tiring at and was annoying seeing him shout no to everything. It's not a film I could watch again.
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Gradually builds up to some great screwball farce, but never really establishes characters in any kind of relatable way. I also found little in the way of trenchant satire, given the premise. The journey of the communist and the actions of Cagney are so broad and cartoonish that any potential message is completely eliminated. The screwball elements are fun though and the manic pace becomes its own great pleasure by the end.
(I meant to review this after I saw it instead of a month later, so thoughts are a little sketchy here)
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Okay, so you guys may be the first to shoot a man to the moon, but if he wants a Coke on the way, you'll have to come to us.
Billy Wilder is one director that doesn't always match the hype for me, but I must admit that, when he delivers, he does so in spades. One, Two, Three may not be his best work, but it's a damn solid piece of film. Just like with his older brother Stalag 17, Wilder manages not only to produce a great comedy, but also to leave not-so subtle nods to certain issues and events that were recent or even contemporary of those days. In this particular case, he tackles Capitalism and the…
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Billy Wilder's follow-up to the brilliant The Apartment(1960), which he all won a bunch of Oscars for and incidentally which can also be argued as his last great film. Considering it is a Wilder film, it felt a little too loud in acting and in dialogue delivery but Wilder's words are as sharp as ever, as funny and as effective as well. He wins it all with his script but I still think it could have been much better, if they dialed it down a bit in their dialogues.
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One of the funnest movies I have seen this year. It’s so fully entrenched in the Cold War era, and yet has the balls to make fun of the whole shebang, righties and lefties alike. It’s freaking hilarious, if a little (necessarily) dated. I highly recommend!
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Enjoyable screwball comedy. Cagney is good but his delivery does get a bit grating. Clever script, with plenty of context sensitive political jokes. Another solid Wilder comedy.
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Possibly inspired by Hawks’s His Girl Friday, Wilder packs more dialogue per second than one could think possible. The nods and winks quotient is also probably the highest I’ve ever seen. This was just with the ones I recognized. Mining IMDB ratchets that number up even further.
What I thought was clever were all the backhanded swipes at Capitalism deftly disguised as overt swipes at Communism. Piffl’s future in Russia, a poor rocket scientist with his sights set on Venus, his fate in London, a rich propagandist for a fizzy drink. Twigged me as the antithesis of Steve Job’s remark to Robert Sculley "Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want…
-
I can't say much here because I slept through much of it and had to walk out for the rest because as much as I hate to admit it, James Cagney drives me bonkers with his constant yelling. I couldn't take it anymore. That's two Cagney pictures I see where he just yells, so I'm going to stay away from his films for a good long while.
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En underskattad pärla som fångar en tidsanda (Berlin, 1961) som få filmer klarat av sedan dess. En politisk komedi, mitt i det kalla kriget, och med extremt rapp dialog och en James Cagney i högform.
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Billy Wilder is one of those directors that makes everything he touches turn to gold. Whether it be Comedy, Drama, or Noir, Wilder's fast paced and always fun films are of the highest quality. One, Two, Three, a comedy written by Wilder and IAL Diamond, Wilder's collaborator on The Apartment and Some Like it Hot, is a first rate farce about capitalism, communism, consumerism, love, and class, with tons of laughs. James Cagney plays a mid-level Coca-Cola executive who's life is turned upside down when the daughter of his boss gets married to a communist while in his care in Berlin. Along the way, Cagney's character deals with everyone, from bumbling executives to Soviet police, all while trying to spin…