Editing James Cagney (section)

====''One, Two, Three'' (1961)====
[[File:One Two Three trailer (1961).webm|thumb|thumbtime=164|''One, Two, Three'' theatrical trailer]]
Cagney's penultimate film was a comedy. He was hand-picked by [[Billy Wilder]] to play a hard-driving [[Coca-Cola]] executive in the film ''[[One, Two, Three]]''.<ref>Warren, page 202</ref> Cagney had concerns with the script, remembering back 23 years to ''Boy Meets Girl'', in which scenes were reshot to try to make them funnier by speeding up the pacing, with the opposite effect. Cagney received assurances from Wilder that the script was balanced. Filming did not go well, though, with one scene requiring 50 takes, something to which Cagney was unaccustomed.<ref>McGilligan, page 151</ref> In fact, it was one of the worst experiences of his long career. Cagney noted, "I never had the slightest difficulty with a fellow actor. Not until ''One, Two, Three''. In that picture, [[Horst Buchholz]] tried all sorts of scene-stealing didoes. I came close to knocking him on his ass."<ref name="Warren 205"/> For the first time, Cagney considered walking out of a film. He felt he had worked too many years inside studios, and combined with a visit to [[Dachau concentration camp]] during filming, he decided that he had had enough, and retired afterward.<ref>Warren, page 204</ref> One of the few positive aspects was his friendship with [[Pamela Tiffin]], to whom he gave acting guidance, including the secret that he had learned over his career: "You walk in, plant yourself squarely on both feet, look the other fella in the eye, and tell the truth."<ref name="Warren203">Warren, page 203</ref>