In Cold War-era West Berlin, American Coca-Cola executive C.R. 'Mac' MacNamara is tasked with playing babysitter to his boss' spoiled 17-year-old daughter Scarlett, who proves more difficult than anticipated when she reveals that she is pregnant by a Communist.
Acting
Cagney's final lead role—pure motor-mouthed perfection.
Direction
Wilder shoots Berlin like a three-ring geopolitical circus.
Writing
I.A.L. Diamond's script has zero chill and 100% bite.
Director
Billy Wilder
James Cagney
C.R. MacNamara
Horst Buchholz
Otto Ludwig Piffl
Pamela Tiffin
Scarlett Hazeltine
Arlene Francis
Phyllis MacNamara
Liselotte Pulver
Fräulein Ingeborg
Hanns Lothar
Schlemmer
Howard St. John
Wendell P. Hazeltine
Leon Askin
Peripetchikoff
Ralf Wolter
Borodenko
Karl Lieffen
Fritz
Hubert von Meyerinck
Count von Droste Schattenburg
Peter Capell
Mishkin
Til Kiwe
Reporter
Henning Schlüter
Dr. Bauer
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Cagney came out of semi-retirement for this, then retired for 20 more years because the role exhausted him so completely.
Wilder filmed during the Berlin Wall's construction in 1961, rewriting jokes daily as real-world tensions escalated dangerously close to the plot.
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