Mister 880 Reviews

This enchanting comedy stars Edmund Gwenn as the cheery Skipper Miller, an aging counterfeiter who prints dollar bills to support himself. Although he breaks the law, he is such a harmless, whimsical criminal that he defies censure, counterfeiting bills because he needs money to live and out of love for his old-fashioned printing press, which he calls "Cousin Henry." Miller proves an embarrassment to the federal agents who have been after him for 10 years, but a new man on the case, Steve Buchanan (Burt Lancaster), comes closer than any other agent to nabbing Miller. He traces one of the bills to an apartment where he meets a pretty United Nations translator (Dorothy McGuire) with whom he falls in love, and soon afterwards he discovers that the elusive counterfeiter is his girlfriend's neighbor. But identifying the "crook" proves to be only half the battle as Buchanan and his colleagues find it difficult to prosecute this charming little man. Lancaster and McGuire perform admirably, but Gwenn, who earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his work, steals the show with one of his most memorable performances (along with his role in MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET and his endearing presence in THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY).