C.R. MacNamara will do anything to get a promotion within the Coca-Cola company, including looking after boss W.P. Hazeltine’s rebellious teenage daughter, Scarlett. When Scarlett visits Berlin, where C.R. is stationed, she reveals that she is married to a communist named Otto Piffl — and C.R. recognizes that Otto’s anti-establishment stance will clash with his boss’s own political views, possibly jeopardizing his promotion.
Credits: TheMovieDb.
Film Cast:
- C.R. MacNamara: James Cagney
- Fräulein Ingeborg: Liselotte Pulver
- Otto Ludwig Piffl: Horst Buchholz
- Scarlett Hazeltine: Pamela Tiffin
- Wendell P. Hazeltine: Howard St. John
- Melanie Hazeltine: Loïs Bolton
- Schlemmer: Hanns Lothar
- Fritz: Karl Lieffen
- Phyllis MacNamara: Arlene Francis
- Peripetchikoff: Leon Askin
- Borodenko: Ralf Wolter
- Count von Droste Schattenburg: Hubert von Meyerinck
- Mishkin: Peter Capell
- Reporter: Til Kiwe
- Dr. Bauer: Henning Schlüter
- Zeidlitz: Karl Ludwig Lindt
- Cindy MacNamara: Christine Allen
- Tommy MacNamara: John Allen
- Krause / Haberdrasher (voice): John Banner
- Tailor (uncredited): Max Buchsbaum
- East German Policeman (uncredited): Werner Buttler
- MP Sergeant (uncredited): Red Buttons
- Krause (uncredited): Paul Bös
- Hairdresser (uncredited): Josef Coesfeld
- East German Policeman (uncredited): Siegfried Dornbusch
- Suitcase Salesman (uncredited): Gernot Duda
- Interrogator (uncredited): Otto Friebel
- Conductor at Grand Hotel (uncredited): Friedrich Hollaender
- Berta (uncredited): Rose Renée Roth
- Count von Droste Schattenburg (voice) (uncredited): Sig Ruman
- East German Policeman (uncredited): Helmut Schmid
- Haberdasher (uncredited): Jaspar von Oertzen
Film Crew:
- Music Editor: Richard Carruth
- Producer: Billy Wilder
- Associate Producer: I. A. L. Diamond
- Associate Producer: Doane Harrison
- Editor: Daniel Mandell
- Art Direction: Alexandre Trauner
- Special Effects: Milt Rice
- Theatre Play: Ferenc Molnár
- Conductor: André Previn
- Director of Photography: Daniel L. Fapp
- Production Design: Robert Stratil
- Production Design: Heinrich Weidemann
- Sound Designer: Basil Fenton-Smith
- Assistant Director: Tom Pevsner
- Title Graphics: Saul Bass
- Production Manager: Werner Fischer
- Production Supervisor: Conrad von Molo
- Boom Operator: John Brommage
- Production Manager: William A. Calihan Jr.
- Sound Effects Editor: Del Harris
- Still Photographer: Lothar Winkler
- Continuity: May Wale Brown
- Second Unit Director: André Smagghe
Movie Reviews:
- John Chard: Amazing Cagney performance in a film that has no resonance now.
C.R. MacNamara is the head of Coca-Cola’s bottling interests in Germany, he is a forceful man who wants to be all that he can be. He hopes to be the head of European operations for the company and is well on his way until the teenage daughter of Coca-Cola big wig Wendell P. Hazeltine shows up and he is asked to baby-sit her for a two week trip thru the continent.
I wish I could have been around to watch this on its release in 1961, for I’m sure I would of laughed my head off at the relevant jokes of the time. Full of communist bluster dialogue and jokes in keeping with the times, One, Two, Three has all the trademarks of a classic Billy Wilder/I.A.L. Diamond picture. Yet viewing it now, one finds that the jokes are tired and weary, and although the frenetic pace of the film is incredible {it really is like a scattergun exploding upon the viewers senses}, the film is something of an archaic oddity. Boasting a quite brilliant performance from James Cagney, the picture is never less than watchable, but the advent of time means the film is stuck firmly in 1961, regardless of the fine work from lead man and director alike. 6/10