L'imprendibile sig. 880

Burt Lancaster has top billing in this film, but the plot, character and whole movie belong to Edmund Gwenn - "Mister 880." Gwenn had won the Oscar for best supporting actor in "Miracle on 34th Street" of 1947, and was nominated again for his role in this film. While he didn't win the Oscar in 1951, he did win another Golden Globe as best supporting actor, which he had also won for "Miracle" in 1947.

Gwenn's role of William "Skipper" Miller here is based on a real person, Emerich Juettner. And the movie is based on the true story of Juettner's 10 years of counterfeiting one-dollar bills, and his final discovery and prosecution. The film is based on the story written about Juettner by St. Clair McKelway and serialized in The New Yorker magazine in 1949, and later published as a book. The story is fairly accurate - Mister 880 was the file number that the Secret Service assigned for this unknown counterfeiter. Skipper's character had emigrated to the U. S. from Austria where he was born, in 1876.

The movie is centered around Burt Lancaster's role as Steve Buchanan, the Secret Service agent who handled the investigation of Mister 880. But, the real Skipper didn't get caught as in the film. The authorities in real life hadn't been able to narrow down their search as the movies tells it, and get close to discovering who the counterfeiter was. Rather, Mister 880 was discovered after he had destroyed the plates and thrown his printing press out during the winter. And some boys found several of the bogus bills, showed them to their parents who then reported the find to the authorities.

As in the film, Mister 880 was given the sentence of 1 year and one day and a $1 fine; and he was paroled after serving 4 months. That was in 1949, and he was 73 years old. On his release, he lived five more years, dying at age 79 on Jan. 4, 1955. But in real life, Mister 880 married in 1902 at age 26. His wife had a son in 1903 and a daughter in 1918. She died shortly thereafter of the Spanish Flu. The movie doesn't account for Juettner's family. The Wikipedia bio doesn't have information about Juettner having served in the U. S. Navy, as the film conveys.

By casting Lancaster and Dorothy McGuire in leads and building a romance around them, 20th Century Fox was able to craft a story with enough interest and star appeal to draw fans and make a movie pay off. The character of Skipper probably was the kindly old gent as portrayed by Gwenn. The bio says that he fessed up to what he had done, as the movie shows. One would like to think that human interest stories such as this would be able to stand on their own. But, one has to trust Hollywood somewhat based on the experiences of long-time professionals working there. Even though they at times misjudged films - big budget films that flop at the box office. And then, there have been the little regarded sleepers that turn out to be blockbusters - such as maybe the biggest one of them all, "Casablanca" of 1942.

So, this is still a very good story; a nice little romance and light comedy, and gentle drama about a kindly old man who broke the law to survive, but doing it in a way that no one would be terribly hurt. And, the supporting role, played superbly by Edmund Gwenn, is what really makes the movie rather than any of the Hollywood revisions and add-ons to sell the movie.

Burt Lancaster was always one who took firm control of his career. He got out of the studio system very early in Hollywood and was always the one who called his own shots. I'm guessing that he probably owed someone a favor which is why he did Mister 880.

It's not that Mister 880 is a bad film, but it's most definitely not a Burt Lancaster project. Burt and leading lady Dorothy McGuire play a definite second fiddle to Edmund Gwenn as the whimsical old neighborhood character who does some counterfeiting on the side when he runs short of money.

The title stems from the number on his file with the United States Secret Service. Mister 880 isn't even that good a counterfeiter, but his case has been put on the agency back burner for years while they assign top priority to organized gangs of counterfeiters. Gwenn does his work on cheap office supply paper with a hand press. He even spells Washington wrong on the one dollar bills he prints. And he's been getting away with it for years because of the small denominations.

McGuire comes to Lancaster's attention as she gets stuck with one of Gwenn's phonies. He's the agent who the New York office finally decided to assign to the 880 case. Of course the usual romantic complications get in the way of the case, but not forever.

Edmund Gwenn is one of those delightful character actors you cannot help but like. His charm is infectious, never more so than when he won that Oscar for Miracle on 34th Street. His character of the Skipper is in the same vein as Kris Kringle in Miracle on 34th Street.

Who could not like Edmund Gwenn and therefore who could not like Mister 880.

I was surprised how fun this film was given the plot. Dorothy McGuire is charming and as usual, Edmund Gwen steals the show.

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.

Edmund Gwenn (best known as Santa Claus in "Miracle on 34th Street) portrays another charming old man who makes ends meet by a little counterfeiting on the side. Burt Lancaster is the treasury agent set to track down the mysterious "Mr. 880," as the Secret Service calls him, but who has time for a little romance. Gwenn, as usual, is delightful and Lancaster, at the beginning of his career, shows the softer side that became more apparent toward its end. The film is a forgotten gem.