Arsenevich: Billy Wilder - One, Two, Three (1961)

Uno, dos, tres

James Cagney es todo un espectáculo dinámico en esta graciosa sátira de Billy Wilder (1961) sobre la diplomacia de Coca-Cola en el Berlín dividido. La trama trata de un ejecutivo de Coca-Cola (Cagney) que tiene que acompañar a la hija del jefe (Pamela Tiffin), que está enamorada de uno de los siempre presentes estudiantes comunistas de Berlín (Horst Buchholz), quien a su vez se dedica a destruir todo lo simbolizado por Coca-Cola... El ritmo es vertiginoso, y el odio profundamente arraigado de Wilder hacia los alemanes nunca tuvo un uso más cómico.

Los años la han atacado, pero actúa Cagney y dirige Wilder, o sea que vale la pena verla.

Berlin, after the Second World War: C.R. MacNamara presides over the Coca-Cola branch of Germany. He is working hard and trying his very best to impress the Atlanta headquarters, since he has heard that the European headquarters in London will soon be looking for a new head. Now, Coca-Cola boss Mr. Hazeltine asks MacNamara to take care of his daughter Scarlett, who is going to take a trip to Europe. Scarlett, however, does not behave the way a young respectable girl of her age should: Instead of sightseeing, she goes out until the early morning and has lots of fun. Finally, she falls in love with Otto Piffl, a young man from East Berlin and a flaming Communist, and marries him surprisingly. When MacNamara hears of this, he intrigues quite a bit with the help of his assistant Schlemmer to get Piffl into an East German prison, but when he also gets note of his Boss and wife coming over to visit their daughter in Berlin, he needs to get Piffl out again, convert him to Capitalism and present him as a fine young and noble husband in order to get his London post, and all of that very quick.

At 61, James Cagney is supremely energetic and wickedly funny in his last film before he retired for 20 years till his surprise comeback in Ragtime (1981).

An inspired and brilliant Wilder ensures that it is a hilarious, breakneck farce that keeps up a relentless pace for two hours. The screenplay reads ‘This piece must be played molto furioso. Suggested speed: 110 miles an hour – on the curves – 140 miles an hour in the straightways.’ And that’s what Wilder delivers...