"Mister 880" is the code word for the secret service's search for a counterfeiter who has been passing along fake $1 bills, easy to find, that is if you really look. After all, in our United States of Confusion, who hasn't wanted to misspell Washington D.C.? Here, the only way these bills can be identified are through the obvious mistake, and it is up to secret service agent Burt Lancaster to find the person responsible, because all of his colleagues from before him (including veteran Millard Mitchell) have had no luck. "879" and "881" are all closed files, simply because they were passing the big bucks, but 880 has been getting away with it, passing $1 bills around the New York City area in a pattern. When the pretty United Nations translator Dorothy McGuire is discovered to have passed two of the fake bills, Lancaster is on her trail, and in one of the film's most amusing sequences, sets out to protect her from masher Mitchell. The scene is shown from inside an art gallery as the soundless activities from Mitchell is visualized from outside. Another sequence has McGuire looking down from her apartment where Lancaster is standing outside a police car just as she has realized who the culprit for the counterfeiting is.
The audience learns really early on that the culprit is none other than the sweet "Santa Claus", Edmund Gwenn, and in this "Miracle at Washington Square", Gwenn is observed bringing McGuire a precious antique and leaving her $2 in counterfeit change in her purse. He means no harm, and in a sense, she is like a daughter to him. McGuire learns quickly that Lancaster is on her trail for reasons other than saving her from a masher and sets out to trap him in the most hysterical of ways. She utilizes old counterfeiting slang dating back to the creation of America's first currency which instantly trips him into realizing that he's been had. Then, there's his encounters with Gwenn to where he's totally fooled by this old rascal, even spending a day with him at Coney Island.
Having assumed that this was a light comedy, I was surprised to find actually that it is a charming romantic drama where a sort of unlikely fairy godfather brings two people together who are then torn apart suddenly when the truth is revealed. This isn't a great film by any means, but the performances are all solid (especially the Oscar Nominated Gwenn) and the atmosphere of post World War II New York is brilliantly documented. Mitchell's hard-boiled secret service agent is a bit of a rascal of his own, willing to get his face slapped and being labeled a pervert in order to get his job done. Little details like that make this a nice little find which I have been searching for for many years.
The audience learns really early on that the culprit is none other than the sweet "Santa Claus", Edmund Gwenn, and in this "Miracle at Washington Square", Gwenn is observed bringing McGuire a precious antique and leaving her $2 in counterfeit change in her purse. He means no harm, and in a sense, she is like a daughter to him. McGuire learns quickly that Lancaster is on her trail for reasons other than saving her from a masher and sets out to trap him in the most hysterical of ways. She utilizes old counterfeiting slang dating back to the creation of America's first currency which instantly trips him into realizing that he's been had. Then, there's his encounters with Gwenn to where he's totally fooled by this old rascal, even spending a day with him at Coney Island.
Having assumed that this was a light comedy, I was surprised to find actually that it is a charming romantic drama where a sort of unlikely fairy godfather brings two people together who are then torn apart suddenly when the truth is revealed. This isn't a great film by any means, but the performances are all solid (especially the Oscar Nominated Gwenn) and the atmosphere of post World War II New York is brilliantly documented. Mitchell's hard-boiled secret service agent is a bit of a rascal of his own, willing to get his face slapped and being labeled a pervert in order to get his job done. Little details like that make this a nice little find which I have been searching for for many years.