It appears that TCM chopped the ending out of its showing of the Burt Lancaster movie, Mister 880 tonight, Nov. 20th. There must have been some programming problem, but it was startling. Lancaster was excellent and Edmund Gwenn was perfect in the part of the old man passing counterfeit money. Right now, we are frustrated. When you sign on to a TCM showing, you assume the network cares enough about its own choices to give you the entire story. Evidently not. At least not tonight. They chopped it and sailed on. Why? This is the first time that has happened when we've been watching. Will someone please tell us how the movie ended?

A good, albeit slight movie starring Burt Lancaster as a secret service agent pursuing the elusive counterfeiter Mister 880 (named for his case number). It's old fashioned and a bit too "nice," but still entertaining. Lancaster has terrific chemistry with Dorothy McGuire (as a UN interpreter who may or may not know more than she's willing to share with Lancaster) and Edmund Gwenn is really perfect. A clever script makes for a fun game of cat and mouse (or mice). Howard St. John is also in it. Director Edmund Goulding manages to create a feel for NYC in 1950 despite being studio-bound. It is a bit like Hitchcock-lite, but still very worthy entertainment.

The whisky-voiced Brit, Edmund Gwenn, didn't get the Oscar for this one....but he did receive the well-deserved trophy for his portrayal of Kris Kringle in "The Miracle on 34th Street". Sorry to nitpick..he was great in both, and Mr. Gwenn, from all I've read, when queried on his deathbed about how hard it must be to die, was the REAL originator of the oft-repeated showbiz line..."Dying is easy...comedy is hard!"

Secret Service agent Steve Buchanan (Burt Lancaster) and the entire New York Field Office of the Secret Service have been trying for many years to track down an elusive counterfeiter who has been making poor imitations of $1 bills. The counterfeiter, called "Mister 880" by the Secret Service after the file number assigned to the case, has been passing the counterfeit $1's all over New York City for many years. Agent Buchanan notices a pattern of passing activity that follows a subway line from Manhattan to Brooklyn. He and his fellow agents "stake out" Coney Island (the next stop on the subway line) and soon develop "The Skipper" (Edmund Gwynn) as a suspect. He is a kindly old gentleman who prints only enough counterfeit money to survive. Agent Buchanan has a big heart and feels terrible about arresting The Skipper. He asks the U.S. Attorney and the Federal Judge to go easy on The Skipper. The movie is based on the true story written by St. Clair McKelway. Ironically, in real life, the Secret Service never identified the suspect, who was a "junk dealer", until a fire started in his apartment. The New York Fire Department responded and "threw out" of the apartment window all sorts of "junk" while putting out the fire. Among the items tossed out the window was a small hand operated printing press and plates for the counterfeit $1 bills. The press and the plates were found by the NYPD who called the Secret Service. But, as we know, the real story wouldn't have made such a good movie, and Lancaster and Gwynn (Oscar winner for this role) are terrific.