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Blu ray review: One Two Three (1961)



James Cagney ended his magnificent career-proper with this loud, witty, funny Billy Wilder feature about the cold war from the perspective of a coca-cola exec having to keep and eye on his boss's daughter while in Germany.  Cagney would come back twenty years later for a couple of doddering appearances a few years before his death, but the filmography that began with Sinner’s Holiday in 1930 would conclude with this hilarious movie now available on blu ray from Kino Lorber.

 

Cagney stars triumphantly with pretty Pamela Tiffin as the daughter, along with Horst Buchholz who was fresh off his appearance in The Magnificent Seven. Arlene Francis plays Cagney’s wife, and the film is dotted with familiar German-speaking actors like John Banner, Leon Askin and Sig Ruman.

 

A force of nature, Cagney barrels through the narrative and sets the rhythm for the other actors.  Director Wilder, no stranger to fast paced comedy, keeps up with this momentum.  It is a wildly funny satire, but at the time of its release it generated little interest and lost money.  It has since become hailed as a timeless classic.


 Cagney was unsurprisingly exhausted after finishing One Two Three, and it’s lack of success after everyone’s hard work resulted in his decision to retire to his ranch at Martha’s Vineyards.  He reminded us he was still around when he showed up to accept the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award in 1974.  When he was coaxed out of retirement for Ragtime in 1981, he was no longer the confident, strutting Cagney of yore, but his appearance was welcomed and performance was lauded.

 

Kino’s blu ray features an audio commentary by Michael Schlesinger, whose effusive enthusiasm and enlightening words are welcomed.  It also includes Billy Wilder and Volker Schlondorff discussing One Two Three, and Billy Wilder talking about the film’s politics.

 

The blu ray (or DVD) can be purchased at this link:  ONE TWO THREE

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James L. Neibaur
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