Mister 880

Mister 880
Directed by Edmund Goulding
Produced by Julian Blaustein
Screenplay by Robert Riskin
Based on True Tales from the Annals of Crime & Rascality
by St. Clair McKelway
Starring (See Cast)
Narrated by John Hiestand
Music by Sol Kaplan
Cinematography Joseph LaShelle
Edited by Robert Fritch
Production
company
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release dates
  • September 29, 1950 (1950-09-29)
Running time
90 min
Country United States
Language English
Box office $1,750,000[1]

Mister 880 is a 1950 American comedy film about an amateurish counterfeiter who only counterfeits one dollar bills, and manages to elude the Secret Service for 10 years. It was directed by Edmund Goulding, and stars Burt Lancaster, Dorothy McGuire, Edmund Gwenn, and Millard Mitchell, The film is based on the true story of Emerich Juettner, known under the alias Edward Mueller, an elderly man who counterfeited just enough money to survive, and was careful in where and when he spent his fake dollar bills, and was therefore able to elude authorities for ten years, despite the poor quality of his fakes, and despite growing interest in his case.[2]

The film was based on an article by St. Clair McKelway that was first published in The New Yorker and later collected in McKelway's book True Tales from the Annals of Crime & Rascality.

Edmund Gwenn, who played "Skipper" Miller (only a supporting role in the film), won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance.

In real life, Juettner was caught and arrested in 1948, and served four months in prison.[2] Juettner made more money from the release of Mister 880 than he had made in his entire counterfeiting career.[2]

Cast

Awards and nominations

References

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