Billy Wilder's Cold War satire, derived from an energetic Molnar comedy the director had seen in 1929, probably owes as much to NINOTCHKA, perhaps the best known film of his idol Ernst Lubitsch. It stars James Cagney as C.J. MacNamara, a Coca-Cola executive who comes to West Berlin to promote the sugary brew on the other side of the Iron Curtain, hoping, in the process, to be promoted to the post of director of West European operations. He soon learns that his real job is babysitting his boss's 17-year-old daughter Scarlett (Pamela Tiffin), who has secretly married volatile Communist Otto Piffl (Horst Bucholz) during her soujourn. By the time McNamara learns this small detail, his boss (Howard St. John) is about to arrive in Berlin. After he gets Piffl arrested by the East German police, who torture him by forcing him to listen to "Itsy-Bitsy-Teeny-Weeny Yellow Polka-dot Bikini" repeatedly, C.J. finds out that Scarlett is pregnant, and realizes he has only twelve hours to get Piffl released and turn him into an acceptable son-in-law for his boss. Wilder's anarchic satire targets Communism, Coca-Cola, rock n' roll, bureaucratic inefficiency, teenage lust, middle-aged lust, and everything else which wanders into range in this briskly paced farce, which features a vigorous James Cagney in his last leading screen role.
The film contains Wilder's first and only pop-star character, the unfortunate Choo Choo.
DVD Features:
Region 1
Keep Case
Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.35
Full Frame - 1.33
Audio:
Mono - English
Mono - French
Mono - Spanish
Additional Release Material:
Trailers: Original Theatrical Trailer
Director of Photography
Daniel L. Fapp: American Director of Photography/Cinematographer
Production Designer
Alexandre Trauner: Art Director
Review 1:
"Wilder, predictably, takes as much pleasure in ridiculing western capitalism as communist self-righteousness."
Source: Sight and Sound
p.77 08/01/2004
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