Fluffy concoction from regular Capra collaborator Robert Riskin, based on a true story, with one joke - the counterfeiter Burt Lancaster is searching for is the nice old man Edmund Gwenn who's constantly in his presence. There's a comment in the inevitable court scene (every crime must be punished) when it's announced that the Service has spent more time in pursing this man over ten years than any other case - but he's only counterfeited a total of $50 in that time - thus a complete waste of manpower. (It's more likely he got away with it so long because the treasury weren't that bothered about finding him. Did love the irony though that he made more money - according to IMDB - selling the film rights than he ever made from... Hang on, he only made 50 bucks. He might have sold the rights for $100. I think I might be spending far too much time thinking about all this.)
Whilst pursuing his man, Lancaster falls for Dorothy McGuire, who naturally enough is the counterfeiter's friend who lives in the same building.
Also, it seems to be purely the old man's war record that makes the judge go easy on him - by the way, he was serving in the war in his late sixties? And why not make anything of that fact the his bills all contain a mis-spelling of 'Washington'? A wasted plot point.
So a curious film, but Edmund Gwenn is as watchable as always. With Millard Mitchell.
Photographed by Joe LaShelle with good feel for Brooklyn locations (studio based or otherwise). Fox.
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