Billy Wilder, USA 1961

A political comedy set in pre-wall West Berlin that released shortly after the Berlin Wall was built. How did that go down with the audience, you ask? The answer: not well. In 1985, however, One, Two, Three was re-released in Berlin and has been a great success there ever since, acquiring the status of a true cult film over the years. 

Thirties and forties movie star James Cagney is a persistent executive of the Coca-Cola company in West Berlin, setting his eyes beyond the iron curtain to ‘Coca’colonize’ the Soviet Union. This classic by Billy Wilder was never nominated for an Oscar, unlike his other works, but has all the right ingredients: a fast and steady pace, continuous, jokes and memorable one-liners. Using the politics of the Cold War as a source of comedy, the film becomes all the more unique knowing the Berlin Wall was constructed during its shooting.

IMDb

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