Back home

Mister 880

34 votes

The Skipper is a charming old man loved by all his neighbors. What they don't know is that he is also Mr. 880, an amateurish counterfeiter who has amazingly managed to elude the Secret Service for 20 years.

Status: Released

Released Date: 1950-09-29

Runtime: 90 mins

Director: Edmund Goulding

Spoken language: Español, English

Genres: Comedy, Crime, Romance

Original title: Mister 880

Production Companies: 20th Century Fox

Production Countries: United States of America

Cast

Steve Buchanan

Burt Lancaster

Ann Winslow

Dorothy McGuire

William "Skipper" Miller

Edmund Gwenn

Millard Mitchell

Minor Watson

Howard St. John

Hugh Sanders

James Millican

George Adrian

Carlos (Spanish Interpreter) (uncredited)

Rico Alaniz

Woman (uncredited)

Polly Bailey

Cashier (uncredited)

Jean Bane

Boy (uncredited)

Gilbert Barnett

Man in a Hallway (uncredited)

Edward Biby

Reviews

Geronimo1967

We start with the usual rousing speech about just how the brave Secret Service is at the vanguard when it comes to thwarting American counterfeiters. One person has been successfully eluding them for years, though, and in a last ditch effort they draft in "Steve" (Burt Lancaster). Now we are fully aware of just whom the forger is, and are actively encouraged to engage with this gentle and kindly fellow (Edmund Gwenn) as his very lack of science - and shocking spelling - make him virtually impossible to trace. Almost immediately this intrepid agent gets onto the trail via a dodgy dollar note that introduces him to "Ann" (Dorothy Maguire) who just happens to live downstairs from our crook. From now on in, there's a confusing inevitability to the story. Confusing because the story can't decide whether it's a romance between Lancaster and Maguire or a gentle crime drama centred around the old man. It's in that muddle that the film rather loses it's way as it manoeuvres itself into an all too cheesy and sentimental cul-de-sac. Gwenn's "Skipper" is a charming old chap whom it would be nigh-on impossible not to like, and his portrayal is simple and effective. The rest of this is really just a soapy accompaniment to that effort and with coincidence taking just a little too prominent a role in the story it's maybe a bit weak. Still, it has a charm to it and it does raise the question of what to to do when faced with what is really a truly victimless crime.

2024-12-31

Recommendations

Outside the Law

1956-06-01

A government agent's son wins respect and love when he challenges counterfeiters.

3.2

The Four

2012-07-12

An undercover agent is assigned by his corrupt chief to infiltrate a rival department and sabotage t

2.4

Naked Lies

1998-07-07

FBI agent Cara Landry is sent on an undercover assignment to gather evidence on Damian Medina, a Mex

3.5

The Counterfeiters of Paris

1961-09-27

"Le Dabe" retired many years ago and now he lives in the Tropics where he owns stables and horses. H

Shadowed

1946-09-26

Fred J. Johnson scores a hole-in-one but his next drive, using the lucky, initialed golf ball, soars

2.9

Southside 1-1000

1950-11-16

The U.S. Secret Service goes after a counterfeiting ring by placing one of its Treasury agents insid

House of Secrets

1956-10-23

Police in Paris recruit an English ship's officer (Michael Craig) to help trap counterfeiters by joi

3.5

Danger Pays

1962-12-01

Joe, Okita, and Serizawa hear of the armed robbery of a truck carrying one billion eighty million ye

2.5

Forced Nudist

1966-08-14

The counterfeiter Clementino begins to be pursued by Interpol. Arriving in Sao Paulo, he notices the

The Counterfeiters

1951-09-21

Producers of phony currency become the object of a crackdown by law enforcement agencies.

An Eye for an Eye, A Tooth for a Tooth

1967-10-28

A flood of counterfeit dollars flooded the global market and is creating alarm in governments around

2.6

Blood Money

1991-04-12

A Los Angeles police officer and a female FBI agent team-up to foil a counterfeiting gang in operati

Forger's Doom

1912-03-15

Claire, the wife of a bank teller, has a liason with a mysterious stranger while her husband is away

2.8

The Counterfeiters

1948-05-28

Scotland Yard cop goes undercover to nab counterfeiter and his gang.

Firebrand Jordan

1930-01-28

'Firebrand' Jordan is a ranger sent into the high Sierras to assist the local Sheriff Ed Burns in ca

Das Rätsel der Gefälschten Mumie

2014-10-18

3.1

The Match King

1932-12-31

Unscrupulous Chicago janitor Paul Kroll uses deceit to fund a return trip to his homeland of Sweden.

Northern Frontier

1935-02-01

A Mountie sets out to infiltrate and break up a gang of counterfeiters.

2.5

No Sun in Venice

1957-05-31

Cute Sophie is an amoral French girl living in a sumptuous Venetian palazzo. She is the kept woman o

2.8

The Amazing Mr. Nordill

1947-08-30

This John Nesbitt's Passing Parade short takes a look at the gentlemanly life and masterful counterf