Movies You Might Have Missed: Billy Wilder’s One, Two, Three

This fast-paced farce starring James Cagney was shot in Berlin but had to relocate to Munich when the Berlin Wall went up during filming

‘One, Two, Three’ stars James Cagney as CR ‘Mac’ MacNamara, a Coca-Cola executive in West Berlin during the Cold War who is assigned with the task of looking after his employer's socialite daughter

Billy Wilder is a towering figure in the history of motion pictures. Perhaps the most versatile director of Hollywood’s golden age, with Double Indemnity and Sunset Boulevard he all but created the blueprint for film noir. Some Like It Hot and The Apartment, staggeringly released in successive years, are two of the most beloved comedies ever made. One, Two, Three, the auteur's next film, while not quite as acclaimed, still has plenty to recommend it.

One, Two, Three (1961) stars James Cagney as CR “Mac” MacNamara, a Coca-Cola executive in West Berlin during the Cold War who is tasked with looking after his employer's socialite daughter. The girl (played by Pamela Tiffin) slips across the border, weds a vehemently anti-capitalist East German and reveals she's pregnant with his baby. This is far from ideal, especially with her father's impending arrival in Berlin.

“The general idea was, let's make the fastest picture in the world,” Wilder said, and there is something of the Marx Brothers in this approach to farce. The filmmaker is clearly unfussed about whether the audience misses a joke or two and the cumulative effect of the relentless gags is so overwhelming that we have no choice but to give in.

Cagney took the role largely because the film was to be shot on location in Berlin and he had fond memories of growing up in a Manhattan neighbourhood “teeming with German immigrants”. His performance, as the ambitious employee with farcical events conspiring against him, is pitch-perfect despite certain issues the actor had with his colleagues. Horst Buchholz riled Cagney to such an extent that he later said: “Had he kept on with his little scene-stealing didoes [tricks], I would have been forced to knock him on his ass, which I would have very much enjoyed doing.”

This was far from the only issue that plagued the production. The Berlin Wall actually went up during filming and the crew were forced to relocate to Munich. After the huge success of Wilder's previous two films, One, Two, Three recorded a loss of $1.6m, in part because the erection of the wall gave the story more sinister undertones than were originally intended. Still, with the benefit of hindsight, it’s a fast-paced farce crammed full of hilarious set-pieces and an underrated gem by one of the medium’s true masters.