By Kevin B. Lee
[Editor's Note: This is the latest entry in House contributor Kevin B. Lee's Shooting Down Pictures, a record of his ongoing quest to see every title on the list of the 1000 Greatest Films compiled by They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?]
One: Is it backhanded praise to say that One, Two, Three is a movie you don’t even have to look at to enjoy? For the first half hour I just wanted to close my eyes and let the non-stop flow of dialogue carry me along. While Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond are known for their wit (”You will send papers to East Berlin with blond lady in triplicate.” “You want the papers in triplicate, or the blond in triplicate?” “See what you can do.”) it’s the musicality of the banter that captivates me: the compulsive clicking of a subordinate’s heels, Cagney’s numerical method of dictating agendas to associates, and countless little moments where the words turned against their speakers, batted around like a beach ball.That’s not to say the film lacks for visual interest. Cagney’s office is an expansive executive space over which looms a global map of Coca Cola conquest; it’s stately and big enough to contain Cagney’s booming voice, and eventually becomes a staging ground for one of the most breathless one-set slapstick routines of post-30s Hollywood.
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6 comments:
I like ONE, TWO, THREE as well -- it's interesting how it interplays with Wilder's earlier stuff. In a way, it's a sequel to A FOREIGN AFFAIR, where the mere geography of post-War Berlin fueled the comedy (here, it's Berlin in its ripe Cold War period). Also, the Coca-Cola HQ looks a lot like the New York office Jack Lemmon worked in four years earlier in THE APARTMENT.
One of the funniest visual jokes comes each time Cagney's boss calls him up from Georgia: the view from *his* office window is a Jacques Tati nightmare come true: a never-ending parking lot, with rows of cars stretching as far as eye can see.
Granted all that, some dialogue is flat (at least by the high Wilder/Diamond standard): I didn't care much for "French benefits" or the "umlaut", but that's just nit-picking on my part.
*Make that "one year earlier"...
Turner Classic Movies is showing One, Two, Three on 11/29/2009 at 6:00:00 PM for those who are interested.
Oh my gosh I LOVE this movie. Saw it totally by accident on regular old non-cable TV when I was in my teens, and then it kind of vanished off the face of the earth for the next couple of decades. But I managed to see the restored print at the Film Forum a few years ago. I'm glad to hear it's been in rotation on TCM -- I'll have to try to catch it again.
Wow Michal - I didn't even notice that visual joke with the Atlanta office until you pointed it out.
btw it's "fringe benefits" - meaning benefits not officially listed in the job description. Also you have to understand how funny and naughty the word "umlaut" sounds to American ears. :)
Hey Kevin, good to hear from you! As for the "fringe benefits", I know the phrase of course, but listen in to how the Soviet commissar pronounces it in the movie. It sounds just like "French benefits" (meaning oral sex as part of "the secretary deal") and I'm 99% sure it was Wilder's concept to have it pronounced like that. Otherwise, blame it on my dirty mind :)
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