"Mister 880" with Burt Lancaster, Dorthy McGuire and Edmund Gwenn (1950)

This is a true story. One of the most unusual counterfeiting cases ever recorded, it originated in Manhattan but played out in Brooklyn, from Boro Park to Flatbush to Coney Island. Even Kings Highway was targeted. It took place over 10 years, between 1938 and 1948 and was the toughest case ever undertaken by the Secret Service.

It is the story of Emerich Juettner, also known as "Skipper", an ex Navy Machinists Mate from World War One who made his living as a junk dealer and only printed the counterfeit $1 bills in order to make ends meet. They were of extremely poor quality, which made the case even more baffling. Even the word Washington was mis-spelled!

The case came to a head in January 1948, after a fire forced him to leave his apartment in Manhattan. The firemen left his belongings in an alley where some kids found them. In the film the kids use them to trade and play cards, but in reality they turned them over to the Police, who had been alerted by the Secret Service of their existence.

Agent Steve Buchanan and his boss had discussed their longest running case, called Case 880, for 10 years, never turning up a credible lead. Out of respect for their quarry they nicknamed him "Mister 880." The counterfeit notes passed by him were even called "880s".

When a woman, Ann Winslow, a  translator at the newly formed United Nations, was found passing 2 of the counterfeit notes, the Secret Service cultivated her as a possible conspirator. She became interested in Agent Buchanan romantically, as he did with her.

Soon, it became apparrent that the bills had merely come into her possession accidentally. But how? That was the key to solving the case.

Eventually it was determined that she lived in the same rooming house as the old man, who was still not a suspect. But, when she bought 2 small spinning wheels from him for $3 each, she had paid with two $5 bills, receiving 4 of the bogus bills in change. This was his only mistake in 10 years.

He had only undertaken the enterprise as a way of survival. Had he placed himself in the care of the government and lived at the Old Sailor's Home it would have cost the United States $85.70 a month to care for him. Needing less than $50 a month to live on, he began doing the whole thing as a way to save the government money.

Agent Buchanan was a relentless man who believed in the maxium penalty for any counterfeiter, even "Skipper", but as the case unfolded he began to have a begrudging respect for the old man.

Eventually, Juettner was arrested, and sentenced to nine months in jail. But when the judge is informed that a sentence of less than a year makes Skipper ineligible for parole he changes the sentence to 9 months and a $1 fine, making him eligible for parole in only 4 months. Agent Buchanan paid the $1 fine for him.

When 20th Century Fox bought the movie rights to his story, "Skiper" earned 8more money than he had ever made as a counterfeiter.

Edmund Gwenn, who played 'Skipper", won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance. Agent Buchanan was played by Burt Lancaster and Ann Wilson was portrayed by Doroth McGuire.

The exterior scenes were all filmed on locaion in Manhattan and Brooklyn, while all the interior scenes were shot on soundstages in Hollywood.

This is a most endearing and entertaining film. It can be viewed here:

https://youtu.be/Ko17byRnCWo

"The Knish War on Rivington Street" by Joanne Opperheim and Jon Davis (2017)

 Of all the gifts I received for my birthday this year, this 32 page children's book was the most delightful. It was given to me by my daughter Sarah Marie. And it put to rest any doubt about the story told to me by my Great Uncle Irving Henkin.

Rivington Street in Manhattan runs across the Lower East Side. It is named after James Rivington, who is mostly remembered for his Loyalist newspaper during the American Revolution while he secretly ran a spy ring for George Washington. John Carroll Lynch portrays him in the the AMC drama "Turn: Washington's Spies".

But less than 150 years later, around the turn of the 20th century, there would be a different kind of  war raging. This one would be commercial and indicative of the society wrought by America's "melting pot."

My Uncle Irving used to tell me this story, which I kind of thought was based on a kernel of truth, but I wasn't sure how much of it he had embellished. It turns out he didn't have to stretch the truth at all because it really happenrd. There was a Knish War on Rivington Street.

Joanne Oppenheim wrote the story down, with illustrations by Jon Davis in 2017. And, although it is a childrenn's book, it is a delightful story for children of all ages.

Basically one immigrant family moved to 150 Rivington Street and opened up a shop selling baked round knishes for a nickel. They were delicious. But soon after,  another family moved into 155 Rivington Street, directly opposite the first store. They too sold knishes, but theirs were square rather than round. And fried rather than baked.  And thus began the Great Knish War of Rivington Street.

But this war was non violent, and the weapons used to decide the outcome were economic. A price war and brass bands versus an orchestra were the weapons of choice. Crowds formed, and music blasted from one side of the street to the other.

Finally the Police were called and even the Mayor came to broker a peace. Tasting both the baked round knish and the square fried ones, he declared the contest a tie. There WAS room for both on Rivington Street! The price went back up to a nickel from the 4 cents engendered by the "war", the brassband and orchestra were disbanded and life went on.

A wonderful book which both entertains and informs, it also preserves an almost lost piece of Jewish heritage. Read it for your grandchildren, and also for yourselves. You will be richer for the experience. And afterwards, have a knish! 😀

Queen Elizabeth - The Passing of an Era

 Amazing to think that Queen Elizabeth has really passed. She was already Queen for 2 years before I was born in 1954. So she has been a presence in the world for all of my life.

An amazing woman, from childhood to driving an Ambulance in the Second World War and marrying Prince Phillip in 1947, she really was unique. Her portrait is featured on the currency in 33 different countries, underscoring the breadth of the old British Empire, upon which the "Sun never set."

She surpassed Queen Victoria in years on the throne and was getting ready to become the longest reigning Monarch in history. Only Louis XIV of France, with a 72-year and 110-day reign from 1643 until 1715 surpasses her in that regard.

Interestingly, the Stone of Scone, also known as Jacob's Stone, is now in Scotland, having been moved there in 1997. It is currently displayed in Edinburgh. The Queen passed away in Balmoral, also in Scotland. Every reigning head of the British Empire has been installed while seated on the throne with that stone beneath it since about 1296.

She will be replaced by her eldest son Charles, the third to bear the name as King. But more importantly, she will be missed by most, if not all, of the world.

The Garden of Delight

 

Here is Mother Nature,
who works so hard unseen.
All the flowers, and all the world,
are products of her dreams.

She often gets no credit
for all that She provides.
The beauty that She creates
with no homage to Her pride.

Working hand in hand with God,
and against the clock of time.
The Mother of all that we enjoy,
and all things which are so fine.

She never signs what She creates,
giving all Her time for free.
Her work is never dated
and goes on eternally.

Her seasons are unnumbered
and in a race with Father Time.
She's always right on schedule,
and Her creations all Divine.

Changing Stars

As Arcturus in Bootes is descending,
and Spica in Virgo ascends. 
My heart's like a cup runneth over, 
the surprises for me never end.

One constellation is going,
as the next one arrives on the scene.
I've met them before, they're never a bore,
they burn with a light as they gleam.

The seasons are ready for changing,
you can tell by the stars in the sky.
To the ancients 'twas simple star gazing,
which filled up their hearts and their eyes.

Like a clock the earth keeps on moving,
it still spins, it still tilts and revolves,
and I find this truly amazing,
like a riddle that's never been solved.

They say it's mathematic equation,
but it needs no persuasion to me.
I only gaze up at the magic,
in these mystical stars that I see.

"Captured" (1933) with Leslie Howard and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.

"Captured" starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Leslie Howard, Margaret Lindsay, Paul Lukas and J. Carroll Naish may at first seem like an innocuous forerunner to later POW films, but it is much more. It is an exploration of both the captured and their keepers. It explores the duty to ones comrades as well as the duty to what both are fighting for in the first place. And the validity of it all.

The prisoners are French, British, Italian and American. At first they are held in inhumane circumstances and likely to die of starvation and disease. The ranking British officer is able to come to an agreement with the prison camp commander, guaranteeing more humane treatment for all the prisoners. To effect this agreement, he guarantees their obedience to the Commandants rules, which are not unreasonable.

Is brutality ever justified, or does some leniency result in a more ordered situation for both sides? And just how far should this cooperation extend? And, how far does personal vengeance go in the scheme of larger issues? All eternal, and still unanswered, questions in these modern times.

Although these things may seem obsolete in the modern era, the theme of the film is still valid. When other powers, with whom we have no personal quarrel,  are at war, how far should the common soldier go in his personal struggle to escape, and what are his obligations to his comrades who have been temporarily removed from the larger struggle by their captivity?

In this film, all of these themes are played out when a British prisoner of war becomes imprisoned alongside his best friend from home, unaware that while he was captured earlier, that same friend began an affair with his wife. When that friend then escapes, jeopardizing the other prisoners safety, he is also charged with criminal rape and murder of a local peasant woman. What then is the moral obligation of his friend, who is also the superior officer?

When the enemy calls for the British Command to return the escapee to face trial for war crimes. The question then arises as to whether any loyalties remain to unite these two friends in their common struggle, personal differences notwithstanding.

Is that struggle, in which they are only pawns, undermined by personal betrayal? And more importantly, at what point do personal differences between friends, and responsibilities to those under ones command, begin or end?

Are the actions of the senior officer in this instance motivated by personal revenge, a sense of right and wrong, or is he doing his duty to protect the many for the war crimes of one man?  

This film delivers on all these points, and with its pristine restoration, and a rousing finish, is well worth the viewing.

"Hangmen Also Die"

"Hangmen Also Die!" is a 1943 film directed by the Austrian director Fritz Lang and written by John Wexley. It originated as a story by Bertolt Brecht (credited in the film as Bert Brecht) and director Fritz Lang. This is their only known collaboration.They were both German Refugees of the Holocaust.

The film, based on the real life story of The Hangman, stars Hans Heinrich von Twardowski in the title role of the real life German leader Reinhard Heydrich. He was a high-ranking German SS police official and a principal architect of the Holocaust. For his full, inhumane story just Google his name.

Walter Brennan, usually cast in character roles and more widely known to many as Grandpappy Amos on the TV sit com "The Real McCoys", is cast here as a well respected Professor and member of the Czech underground in Praque.

Not since the film "Swamp Water" had he played such a serious dramatic role. When compared to films such as "To Have and Have Not", the screen adaptation of Hemingway's novel of the same name, written for the screen  by William Faulkner, and starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, had his true range of acting been so plainly revealed.

During the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovokia, a well respected Surgeon named Franticek Svoboda (Brian Donlevy) assassinates the Hangman. Dr. Svoboda escapes with the aid of history professor Stephen Novotny (Walter Brennan). He, along with 400 other Czechoslovakians, are then betrayed by Nazi sympathizer Emil Czaka (Gene Lockhart). The Czech prisoners are told that if Svoboda does not surrender, they will all be executed.

Finely restored from the original silver nitrate film, this story is the story of the never ending struggle of Good and Evil, which still goes on in 2022. This was my first encounter with this gripping film.

https://youtu.be/WiQFkEM1H00