Rating: 
Summary: GREAT Comedy, simple DVD
Review: Finally, Billy Wilder's breathless masterpiece is available on DVD. Though there are virtually no extras on this DVD, it offers a terrific 2.35:1 Letterbox (and a standard format on the flipside). I've seen this at least 50 times, watching it now, and I'm still overwhelmed at the amazing screenplay and Cagney's performance, a tour de force that left him so exhausted he didn't make another film or 20 years. There are few performances captured on film that are as totally rewarding. I'd reviewed the VHS twice, but it bears repeating that Lilo Pulver and Hanns Lothar were most supportive toward Cagney's brilliance. Arlene Francis' wisecracks are perfect, Daniel L. Fapp's Oscar-nominated cinematography still shines in this Panavision transfer, and you'll be hard-pressed to get Andre Previn's arrangement of the Khachaturian Sabre Dance out of your head when it's all over. This is, quite simply, an overwhelming, enjoyable comedy film!
Rating:
Summary: Refrence to my April 2, 2002 review...
Review: I feel so foolish...I've figured out, after 42 years, the running gag in "One, Two, Three". The running gag is "Totally unacceptable, full of holes". The answer is: Communism, as only the great Billy Wilder could describe it and the way his native land had been treated. Has anyone else figured this out? What a great film!
Rating:
Summary: Captures the age & entertains
Review: I first saw this movie in a US Army theater in Germany in 1961. It was the first time I'd seen a movie audience applaud at the end of a movie...and for good reason. We were over there, and we knew that this film accurately depicted the times in spite of being a satiric farce. The dialogue is extemely witty, and the pacing is breath-taking. I don't buy a lot of movies, but this was at the top of my list of all-time favorite films.
Rating:
Summary: Captures the age & entertains
Review: I first saw this movie in a US Army theater in Germany in 1961. It was the first time I'd seen a movie audience applaud at the end of a movie...and for good reason. We were over there, and we knew that this film accurately depicted the times in spite of being a satiric farce. The dialogue is extemely witty, and the pacing is breath-taking. I don't buy a lot of movies, but this was at the top of my list of all-time favorite films.
Rating: 
Summary: Not As Funny As I Remembered
Review: I first saw this one in 1973 or 1974 and had remembered it all these years as screamingly hilarious. Last night I caught it on cable and didn't laugh once. It reminded me of a stale political skit from a twenty-year-old episode of Saturday Night Live or The Tonight Show. The one-liners weren't very funny, the line readings were shrill and forced, the plotting wasn't tight enough. The casting was off, too: Cagney and Arlene Francis were WAY too old to be the parents of 10-year-old kids. (Although Cagney was otherwise pretty good in the movie.) Too many of the situations were just too lame and lazily conceived: Could anyone possibly mistake a pair of yellow and green party balloons for human breasts, especially when they're uncovered and less than two feet away in a well-lighted room? A good farce needs to retain some degree of plausibility in order to be funny. The best recent example of classic farce is the great French comedy "The Dinner Game". Now THAT'S farce!
Yeah, there are some mild jabs in "One, Two, Three" at Coca-Colanization, corporate idiocy, Communism, latent nazism in ordinary Germans, etc. But whatever satire the movie may contain is feeble and toothless. "Dr. Strangelove" it ain't!
Rating:
Summary: Put Yer Pants on, Spartacus........
Review: I have always loved this movie for two reasons: James Cagney and James Cagney. A lesser-known Billy Wilder comedy gem, this film moves like greased lightning. An out and out farce, the modern audience may not appreciate some of the Cold War jokes, but the movie is still well-worth anyone's while to see Cagney's brilliant performance and the non-stop machine-gun delivery of one-liners and asides.The head of Coca Cola in Cold War divided Berlin (but before the Wall), is saddled with the twit daughter (she of the over-active hormones), of one of his Coke Atlanta Office superiors. She becomes involved with an East German communist bohemian/activist, the parents from Atlanta are on the way, and all the fun begins. The jokes are rapid fire and non-stop. The cast impeccable. I can't imagine anyone other than Cagney doing his role (its that indelible). In its own way a daring little picture, the world was incredibly tense when this movie came out, much like it is today but for different reasons. Berlin was one of the world's "hot spots" and a face-off point with the Soviet Union and a possible spark for Armageddan. Wilder found humor in that tension and the laughs that resulted were relief at the discovery of the human comedy within the Cold War. He put a human face on the communists and found in their foibles the same age-old human weaknesses of greed & lust & envy. In other words, they were the same as us. That meant there was hope. But the heck with that, its funny as hell. Take the ride.
Rating:
Summary: AT LAST!
Review: I have been waiting for this movie to be published on DVD since DVD was born. Suffice to say: my two daughters, who were 5 and 8 at the time, never wanted to watch a black and white movie until my wife and I introduced them to this comedic masterpiece (13 years ago). They laughed hysterically then and they still do. The term "rapid-fire" was invented to describe Cagney's delivery during the last act. Our copy that we taped from The Movie Channel is just about worn out. This gem is coming out at just the right time.
Rating:
Summary: Yes comedy from a gangister
Review: I never liked his gangister movies, but Jimmy Cagney is so funny in this movie it will leave you with a stitch in your side from laughter. I don't know why he didn't win a Acadmey Award for his efforts. Arlene Frances was also wonderful as his wife, trying to bring Jimmy back to the real world, and his family. A supersonic paced comedy if there ever was one.
Rating:
Summary: What Insomniacs Watch!
Review: I saw this movie about 4 years ago at about 3:30 in the morning when I was hit with a major case of insomnia. I loved it and watched it all the way through. Since then, I haven't found it on television or been able to rent it, but it is definitely a wonderful film.
Rating:
Summary: Setzenmachen!
Review: I second every great thing said about this film. A true tour-de-force of comedic writing, acting and direction. It's quite underrated. Watching this should be a blast for students of post-war history, political science, policy, etc. But even if you don't brush up on your cold war history before watching, you'll pick up the tone of the day quickly - and be on the floor! I'm a film professor, and this one is in my top 10.
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