I didn't wind up with any Ernst Lubitsch flicks on my ballot, though I considered a couple. To Be or Not To Be is not my favorite of his filmography but it is a damn goodun'. Very happy to see it on the list. Heil myself.
I am even happier to see Billy Wilder's One Two Three, which I think is the funniest of all of his comedies (if lesser known) and the first of my choices to make the countdown. I had it at fifteen, good for eleven of its sixty-nine points. I have been pimping this movie around MoFo like a buxom secretary to Commie bureaucrats since I joined the site twenty years ago. And apparently it paid off! Wilder updating the fast-talking Screwball farce with Cold War patriots and soda pushers is a winner of an idea executed perfectly, especially by the legendary Jimmy Cagney, lured out of retirement and bringing C.R. MacNamara roaring to life! Aram Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance" is the prefect metronome for the frantic mayhem, satire, and laughter. And remember, Kids, when you're eighteen you can make up your own minds whether you want to be a capitalist or a rich communist.
Holden’s Ballot
15. One Two Three (#85)
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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra
"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra