Mister 880 is one of the more unusual crime dramas you'll ever see. It stars Burt Lancaster as Secret Service Agent Steve Buchanan assigned to capturing a counterfeiter based in NYC who eluded capture for ten years.
The narrative is based on the true story of Emerich Juettner, an elderly junk dealer of German extraction who spent no more than $50 per month passing poorly made counterfeit one-dollar bills basically for pocket money.
Considerable resources were put into the capture of "Mister 880," the nickname given to Juettner who was Case #880 in The Treasury Department files.
Given that there were so many other cases of much larger import to deal with, one can only conclude that the main reason the Secret Service was so obsessed in capturing Juettner was because they felt miffed that they had been outwitted by such a small-time operator for such a long period of time.
In the film Juettner is called "Skipper" Miller and he successfully eludes the Secret Service by passing his forged notes all over the city. The film is a fictionalized account of what actually happened and it's to the credit of Robert Riskin's screenplay that the fictional story holds our interest throughout the narrative.
Riskin accomplishes this by inventing a female interest for Buchanan, Ann Winslow (Dorothy McGuire), a UN French interpreter who initially becomes a suspect after we observe how Skipper-Ann's neighbor in an apartment building-places two counterfeit bills in her purse as change for a cheap "antique" he sells to her.
I got a real kick out of seeing Ann working at the UN's first location in New York which I believe was the New York Pavilion (from the 1939-1940 World's Fair) in Flushing Meadow Park (instead of the present UN headquarters location on the eastside of Manhattan).
Director Edward Goulding does a great job in creating a scene without spoken dialogue from the angle of inside a dress shop looking out on to the street where Steve pretends to come to Ann's rescue as his partner Mac McIntire (Millard Mitchell) pretends to make unwanted moves toward her.
Ann neatly figures out that Steve is a Secret Service agent and soon a romance develops where there's real chemistry between the two starring thespians. Later there's some tension between the two when Skipper's identity is finally uncovered, and Ann doesn't want to turn the old codger in fearing he'll be given a long prison sentence.
Despite knowing who the counterfeiter is from almost the very beginning, the methods Steve employs to try and capture Skipper prove riveting. Skipper passes counterfeit bills right in front of the agents' eyes while accompanying Steve and Ann on a trip to Coney Island among other places but he continues to elude capture by complete coincidence.
Finally, a bunch of kids are caught passing Skipper's bills from a cache they discover near Skipper's buried printing press who he rather humorously refers to as "Cousin Henry." Skipper buried the press after he realizes the authorities are on to him.
The climax involves how the judge will decide Skipper will be sentenced. Liberal crusader Lancaster again finds the perfect role in Steve-the hard-bitten law enforcement agent who ends up appealing for mercy using the judge's own words found in a book written by him.
Edmund Gwen (famous for his role as Santa in Miracle on 34th Street) garnered a nomination for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar as the befuddled but kindly Skipper.
As it turns out the judge's initial decision to mercifully give him 9 months is changed to a little over a year-State time instead City so that he'll be eligible for parole after only four months.
Mister 880 proves to be a charming, offbeat tale which will hold your interest throughout. It's mainly the clever writing that keeps things afloat buttressed by the strong acting of the principals.
The narrative is based on the true story of Emerich Juettner, an elderly junk dealer of German extraction who spent no more than $50 per month passing poorly made counterfeit one-dollar bills basically for pocket money.
Considerable resources were put into the capture of "Mister 880," the nickname given to Juettner who was Case #880 in The Treasury Department files.
Given that there were so many other cases of much larger import to deal with, one can only conclude that the main reason the Secret Service was so obsessed in capturing Juettner was because they felt miffed that they had been outwitted by such a small-time operator for such a long period of time.
In the film Juettner is called "Skipper" Miller and he successfully eludes the Secret Service by passing his forged notes all over the city. The film is a fictionalized account of what actually happened and it's to the credit of Robert Riskin's screenplay that the fictional story holds our interest throughout the narrative.
Riskin accomplishes this by inventing a female interest for Buchanan, Ann Winslow (Dorothy McGuire), a UN French interpreter who initially becomes a suspect after we observe how Skipper-Ann's neighbor in an apartment building-places two counterfeit bills in her purse as change for a cheap "antique" he sells to her.
I got a real kick out of seeing Ann working at the UN's first location in New York which I believe was the New York Pavilion (from the 1939-1940 World's Fair) in Flushing Meadow Park (instead of the present UN headquarters location on the eastside of Manhattan).
Director Edward Goulding does a great job in creating a scene without spoken dialogue from the angle of inside a dress shop looking out on to the street where Steve pretends to come to Ann's rescue as his partner Mac McIntire (Millard Mitchell) pretends to make unwanted moves toward her.
Ann neatly figures out that Steve is a Secret Service agent and soon a romance develops where there's real chemistry between the two starring thespians. Later there's some tension between the two when Skipper's identity is finally uncovered, and Ann doesn't want to turn the old codger in fearing he'll be given a long prison sentence.
Despite knowing who the counterfeiter is from almost the very beginning, the methods Steve employs to try and capture Skipper prove riveting. Skipper passes counterfeit bills right in front of the agents' eyes while accompanying Steve and Ann on a trip to Coney Island among other places but he continues to elude capture by complete coincidence.
Finally, a bunch of kids are caught passing Skipper's bills from a cache they discover near Skipper's buried printing press who he rather humorously refers to as "Cousin Henry." Skipper buried the press after he realizes the authorities are on to him.
The climax involves how the judge will decide Skipper will be sentenced. Liberal crusader Lancaster again finds the perfect role in Steve-the hard-bitten law enforcement agent who ends up appealing for mercy using the judge's own words found in a book written by him.
Edmund Gwen (famous for his role as Santa in Miracle on 34th Street) garnered a nomination for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar as the befuddled but kindly Skipper.
As it turns out the judge's initial decision to mercifully give him 9 months is changed to a little over a year-State time instead City so that he'll be eligible for parole after only four months.
Mister 880 proves to be a charming, offbeat tale which will hold your interest throughout. It's mainly the clever writing that keeps things afloat buttressed by the strong acting of the principals.