As expected, the American Film Institute cites Billy Wilder's "Some Like It Hot" as one of the greatest comedies of all time, yet for my money, this is Wilder's funniest work. Starring James Cagney in what would be his last role until Ragtime, this hilarious film unfortunately never got its due owing to its unfortunate release timing. The plot centers around a time when people could pass relatively easily between West and East Berlin, prior to the Wall going up, and what appears to be a hasty prologue addition tries to address that, but timing issues aside this is one funny movie.

Cagney plays C. R. Macnamara (perhaps puckishly named for the Kennedy advisor/cabinet member?), an expartiate Coca Cola executive who through a series of misadventures manages to go from managing distribution for entire countries to half a city (West Berlin). His tale of managing to lose the Coca Cola plant in Baghdad to a local mob (angered by Benny Goodman cancelling a show) and his South American adventures are no less hapless - "schlepping that syrup over the Andes, on llamas yet!". The film begins with Macnamara arriving at the office to his heel-clicking staff, which jumps to attention as he walks in. Cagney exasperatedly says "Sitzenmachen!", and the staff returns to their duties. His obsequious assistant Schlemmer, hilariously played by Hanns Lothar is like a loyal puppy, despite Macnamara's cutting zings:

"That old Gestapo training, eh Schlemmer?"
"Please Mr. Macnamara, you mustn't say that"
"Just between us Schlemmer, what did you do during the war?"
"I was in the Unterground, the Underground"
"Resistance fighter?"
"No, motorman. You know, in the subway"
"And you didn't know anything about Adolf?"
"Adolf who?"

Macnamara is doing a deal with three Russian commisars to distribute Coca Cola behind the Iron Curtain, and their negotiations are the height of comic absurdity. When the commisars demand that Coke provide the formula for the syrup and are turned down flat, an angry commisar says they will make their own. Macnamara launches into a hilarious litany of failed Soviet attempts to duplicate the pause that refreshes including "a cockamamie imitation, Kremlin Cola. It was so bad only the Albanians would take, and they used it for sheep dip!"