One, Two, Three

Play trailer

One, Two, Three

1961,

1h 48m,

Comedy

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

87%

23 Reviews

Tomatometer

88%

2,500+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

87%

Tomatometer

23 Reviews

88%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

C.R. MacNamara (James Cagney) will do anything to get a promotion within the Coca-Cola company, including looking after boss W.P. Hazeltine's (Howard St. John) rebellious teenage daughter, Scarlett (Pamela Tiffin). When Scarlett visits Berlin, where C.R. is stationed, she reveals that she is married to a communist named Otto Piffl (Horst Buchholz) -- and C.R. recognizes that Otto's anti-establishment stance will clash with his boss's own political views, possibly jeopardizing his promotion.

Critics Consensus

Billy Wilder's One, Two, Three is an uproarious Cold War satire, offering devastating critiques of both factions with an effortless touch and a powerhouse performance from James Cagney.

Read Critics Reviews

Gwen Ihnat

AV Club

Jun 28, 2019

Past the manic frenzy of the screwball comedy are many sly nods to the frosty Cold War relations between the East and the West.

Go to Full Review

Variety Staff

Variety

Aug 15, 2007

The screenplay, based on a one-act play by Ferenc Molnar, is outstanding.

Go to Full Review

Don Druker

Chicago Reader

Aug 15, 2007

The pace is blistering, and Wilder's deep-seated hatred of Germans has never been put to more comic use.

Go to Full Review

Pauline Kael

Film Quarterly

Sep 11, 2023

One, Two, Three is overwrought, tasteless, and offensive -- a comedy that pulls out laughs the way a catheter draws urine.

Go to Full Review

Eddie Harrison

film-authority.com

Jun 7, 2022

3/5

...plays as a farce at breakneck speed, with Cagney ripping through his dialogue with real verve…

Go to Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Nov 16, 2021

3.5/4

Cagney performs at such a breakneck speed, it's no wonder he retired from movies immediately thereafter, only returning 20 years later for a role in 1981's Ragtime.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Anakin S

Mar 22, 2019

Made in 1961, the same year when began the construction of the Berlin Wall, probably the best known and most memorable symbol of the Cold War. The plot is simple: CEO of the West German Coca-Cola hosts the daughter of his boss from the US, but she soon falls for a communist from the East Berlin. This development drives this humorous and dynamic movie that brilliantly captured the spirit of the time and through excellent dialogues, it very effectively questioned the ruling narratives, both Eastern and Western. Billy Wilder, Austrian Jew who fled from Berlin in 1933 when the Nazis came to power, made this dynamic movie that, through satire and comedy, confronts the Cold War madness and enormous tension that ruled divided Berlin that was the focal point of the divided world, which permanently lingered on the brink of nuclear war. The Berlin Wall was erected by the government of East Germany, with the official name "Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart" (Antifaschistischer Schutzwall) implying that West Germany didn't conduct the denazification process and that there is a continuity with the government from Nazi times. Moreover, the construction of the wall began on the night of 13 August 1961, while Billy Wilder was shooting the 1,2,3... in Berlin, forcing him to relocate from Berlin to Munich.

See more

Feb 2, 2019

The best comedy movie ever made!

Finn L

Feb 24, 2018

A capitalist cola executive in cold war Berlin faces hardship from communists, headstrong youth, as well as ex-Nazi trained staffing. James Cagney, a diminutive man in fact, but one of the nearly forgotten (shame!) giants of the screen proves it so and then some with a tour-de-force performance as he singlehandedly wrangles Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond's witty assault on so-called dollar diplomacy down to the ground and makes it go "uncle!" and is the sole reason to seek this ignored gem out. Excellent.

See more

Harry W

Aug 3, 2017

The movie starts as mediocre comedy but it builds up into such fast pace craziness I almost forgot to breath! :D

Finn L

Feb 17, 2016

Not just a great attempt at caustic social commentary through the broadest of comedy, but also one the funniest movies of the '60s.

See more

Read all reviews

Billy Wilder

Director

James Cagney

C.R. MacNamara

Pamela Tiffin

Scarlett Hazeltine

Horst Bucholz

Otto Ludwig Piffl

Arlene Francis

Phyllis MacNamara

Liselotte Pulver

Fräulein Ingeborg

Victor/Victoria

85%

86%

Victor/Victoria

Watchlist

The Seven Year Itch

83%

76%

The Seven Year Itch

Watchlist

TRAILER

for The Seven Year Itch

Pillow Talk

93%

87%

Pillow Talk

Watchlist

A Star Is Born

98%

81%

A Star Is Born

Watchlist

A Thousand Clowns

71%

88%

A Thousand Clowns

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

C.R. MacNamara (James Cagney) will do anything to get a promotion within the Coca-Cola company, including looking after boss W.P. Hazeltine's (Howard St. John) rebellious teenage daughter, Scarlett (Pamela Tiffin). When Scarlett visits Berlin, where C.R. is stationed, she reveals that she is married to a communist named Otto Piffl (Horst Buchholz) -- and C.R. recognizes that Otto's anti-establishment stance will clash with his boss's own political views, possibly jeopardizing his promotion.

Director: Billy Wilder
Producer: Billy Wilder
Screenwriter: Billy Wilder, I.A.L. Diamond
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, United Artists, MGM Home Entertainment
Production Co: Mirisch Films, Pyramid Productions Inc.
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 15, 1961, Wide
Release Date (DVD): May 30, 2017
Runtime: 1h 48m

Join The Newsletter

Join The Newsletter

Cookie Settings