“One, Two, Three,” September 23

Wednesday, September 23, 6 p.m.

The Last Picture House, 325 East Second Street, Davenport IA

With the fourth offering in its series described by Time magazine as a "wonderfully funny exercise in nonstop nuttiness," the German American Heritage Center continues its “The Lost Years of German Cinema: 1948-1963" film screenings with Billy Wilder's 1961 comedy One, Two, Three, which enjoys a September 23 screening at Davenport venue The Last Picture House.

In his last starring tole on film, James Cagney plays Coca-Cola executive C.R. MacNamara. Assigned to manage Coke's West Berlin office, MacNamara dreams of being transferred to London, and to do this he must curry favor with his Atlanta-based boss, W.P. Hazeltine, MacNamara agrees to look after Hazeltine's dizzy, impulsive daughter, Scarlett (Pamela Tiffin), during her visit to Germany. Weeks pass, and on the eve of Hazeltine's visit to West Berlin, Scarlett announces that she's gotten married. Even worse, her husband is a hygienically challenged East Berlin Communist named Otto Piffl (Horst Buchholz). The crafty MacNamara arranges for Piffl to be arrested by the East Berlin police and to have the marriage annulled, only to discover that Scarlett is pregnant. In rapid-fire "one, two, three" fashion, MacNamara must consequently arrange for Piffl to be released by the Communists and successfully pass off the scroungy, doggedly anti-capitalist Piffl as an acceptable husband for Scarlett. MacNamara must also accomplish this in less than 12 hours, all the while trying to mollify his wife Phyllis (Arlene Francis ), who has learned of his affair with a secretary named Ingeborg (Liselotte Pulver).

An Academy Award nominee for its cinematography and Golden Globe nominee for co-star Tiffin and Best Picture – Musical or Comedy, One, Two, Three inspired this raved from New York Times critic Bosley Crowther: “With all due respect for all the others, all of whom are very good – Pamela Tiffin, a new young beauty, as Scarlett; Horst Buchholz as the East Berlin boy, Lilo Pulver as a German secretary, Leon Askin as a Communist stooge, and several more – the burden is carried by Mr. Cagney, who is a good 50 per cent of the show. He has seldom worked so hard in any picture or had such a browbeating ball. His fellow is a free-wheeling rascal. His wife (Arlene Francis) hates his guts. He knows all the ways of beating the rackets and has no compunctions about their use. He is brutishly bold and brassy, wildly ingenious and glib. Mr. Cagney makes you mistrust him – but he sure makes you laugh with him. And that's about the nature of the picture. It is one with which you can laugh – with its own impudence toward foreign crises – while laughing at its rowdy spinning jokes.”

One, Two, Three will be shown at Davenport's The Last Picture House on September 23 at 6 p.m., the screening followed by a post-film discussion with Dr. William Hampes, and guests are asked to check in at the German American Heritage Center table in the lobby. Admission is $12-15, guests will choose their seats upon arrival, and proceeds from ticket sales will go to Heritage Center programming For more information, call (563)322-8844 and visit GAHC.org.