El caso 880

Very Enjoyable film. Too bad Burt Lancaster didn't make more comedies - as he displays a very nice touch here, making fun of his macho image.

I didn't know anything about this film before I watched it and was pleasantly surprised. The characters are a little more "loose" or natural acting than is seen in most Hollywood fare of the time. The story concerns a secret service agent looking for counterfeiters, a translator at the United Nations, and a beloved old man. A very nice, original story.

All the actors are good - Burt, Dorothy McGuire is quite radiant and Edmund Gwynn is dynamite. I'd say he is better in this than in "Miracle on 34th Street". If you are looking for a nice movie that will put a smile on your face - you can't go wrong with this one. It'll stick with you.

New York-area counterfeiter, a kindly old junk collector who means no harm, may have met his match in a new Secret Service man determined to nab the 10-year offender of phony one-dollar bills. Despite an early placard telling us the film was made with "the special permission of the Secretary of the Treasury", as well as with "the assistance of the Treasury Department of the United States Secret Service", the film is surprisingly light and blithe. Edmund Gwenn, Santa Claus in 1947's "Miracle on 34th Street", ends up before the judge again, and his sweetly honest disposition and gentle nature puts us on his side no matter what the crime. Agent Burt Lancaster, wooing Gwenn's neighbor Dorothy McGuire, is perhaps too intense an actor for such a breezy, frivolous take on this situation, yet he works well with his co-stars and has a good scene questioning some Bowery kids (Billy Gray among them). Not an important picture by any means, though mildly entertaining. Gwenn received a Golden Globe for his performance, followed by an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor. **1/2 from ****

When I first saw this in 1950 I just loved "the Skipper" and every time I watch it, as I did yesterday, I fall again. A very good actor who just melts your heart in his characterizations.

Burt Lancaster as the Agent trying to solve an old case that has bugged the Secret Service for a decade; and Dorothy McGuire as the U.N. interpreter caught up in the investigation are fine. When they are in the restaurant purring at each other, while saying serious things about the case, it is a wonderful scene. Fine direction and acting.

I watch it as the beginning of my holiday "classic" film month. Nothing to do with Christmas, Thanksgiving or New Years. But it does end with the music to Auld Lang Sang playing in the background and the spirit is that of a holiday movie. A treat and I give it 9/10.

Jane

This is an odd movie, as it concerns a very successful counterfeiter but not in a way you'd expect. In other words, while the guy printed horrible quality money, he managed to get away with it for a decade. Why? Because instead of printing higher denominations or trying to get rich, he was just an old guy who passed phony $1 bills here and there. Oddly, he never really had much desire to hurt anyone or become a big-time crook--just do it on odd occasions to make ends meet. And, because of this odd m.o., he managed to evade detection so long. And, what makes this even more interesting is that it's all based on a true story.

The film is told mostly from the viewpoint of a Secret Service agent--played by Burt Lancaster. He was an incredibly determined agent and worked hard to capture the crook (Edmund Gwenn). But, because Gwenn plays such a nice and seemingly harmless old guy, the case drug on and on and on--as no one suspected the cute old man.

The film is very well-made and although it's not a film noir picture, it has similarities. Mostly, it's reminiscent because the story is very straight-forward--though the sentimental musical score and sympathetic telling of the story is about as far from noir as you can get! Well made and interesting.

Okay, i'll admit i watched this on Youtube because it was free, and the first thing that LEAPED out at me was Skipper the dog -- i took one look at this animal and said to my husband, "I will bet you five dollars that Frank Inn trained that dog." By that time the dog was showing major dog-acting talent and he said, "I won't take that bet." The dog looks just like a larger version of Higgins, the dog that played Benji, also trained by Frank Inn, but it was not just the look, it was the way the dog was trained to be cued by the actors that shouted "I am a Frank Inn dog."

And then we saw Herb Vigran -- a guy who has been in practically every movie and TV show for which Frank Inn trained animals, from Petticoat Junction to Hawmps! Major AHA moment there. So we stopped the film and looked it up. Bingo. Frank Inn trained Skipper. Case solved!

Meanwhile., back at the movie, Secret Service agent Burt Lancaster is snooping around and falling in love with the lovely United Nations translator Dorothy McGuire. What a delightful couple they are -- and she is so witty and smart -- a great role for this under-appreciated actress. Will Lancaster let his monomaniacal desire to catch Mister 880, the counterfeiter, ruin his chances at love? Will McGuire solve the crime before he does? This is a cute and touching story, with Edmund Gwenn in the title role, displaying both his native proper English, and a flawless German accent as well.