Complete credited cast: | |||
Burt Lancaster | ... | Steve Buchanan | |
Dorothy McGuire | ... | Ann Winslow | |
Edmund Gwenn | ... | William 'Skipper' Miller | |
Millard Mitchell | ... | 'Mac' McIntire | |
Minor Watson | ... | Judge O'Neil | |
Howard St. John | ... | Chief | |
Hugh Sanders | ... | Thad Mitchell | |
James Millican | ... | Olie Johnson |
The Secret Service of the US Treasury Department has been able to nab a number of high-powered and violent counterfeiters over the years, but case number 880, which has been open now for ten years, has so far confounded them. The reason this case bothers them so much is not only the duration of the file, but more importantly the fact that the bills themselves and their distribution are of an amateurish nature, including the obvious typographical error, "Wahsington", on them. They do realize that the perpetrator, who they have coined Mister 880, has been able to get away with it so far because the bills are almost exclusively $1, which merchants rarely check, and that the bills collected, which have been distributed solely in New York City, amount to less than $50 per month. The Secret Service decides to bring in Los Angeles based Steve Buchanan to work on the case as a pair of fresh eyes. As Steve goes about his initial investigation of merchants who have been duped over those ten ... Written by Huggo
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