Mine Own Executioner (1947) User Reviews

Simply excellent

[Spondonman · 8/10 · 23 February 2014]

This is an insanely underrated film, faithfully screenplayed by Nigel Balchin from his engrossing and subtle novel of the same name. After I saw the film back in the 80's I trawled the pre-internet second hand bookshops to read as many of his other works as I could, including The Small Back Room, Fall Of The Sparrow, Sort Of Traitors, Sundry Creditors, and others more or less excellent too but none quite up to the standards here.

Non-medically trained psycho-analyst Felix Milne is involved with two practices (one paying and one for the poor) two women (one his wife one the woman he thinks he loves) and two important patients (one a potentially violent schizo and one himself). The schizo's story is prised out under hypnosis, while the shrink's story is prised out through events. And as usual where human emotions are rampant events spiral out of control to an unguessable outcome. Two points: there's more of a story going on underneath the main story, there are many sub-dramas going on; and I think along with Obsession the film most perfectly captures the post War zeitgeist of a London pulling itself together again. In addition to a good story and good acting there's some splendid photographic framing and atmospheric homely scenes to mull over, although the washed out copy I just saw didn't really do it full justice – UK Channel 4 used to screen a decent copy so hopefully that will resurface someday. It's a pity the main character had to become a Canadian – but it was probably more convincing than acidic Burgess Meredith playing an Englishman! Kieron Moore was a bit more wooden than he needed to be, however Dulcie Gray was so charming as Milne's long-suffering wife she was almost a extra diversion.

Some people might deplore the lack of grittiness, sordidness, sex and yobbishness so it's not for them - although there is one violent scene it would be handled far more graphically in colour hd cgi nowadays. It's a film that's obviously old-fashioned (as everything is sooner or later), wordy with people apparently with marbles in their mouths, thoughtful and thought-provoking on simultaneously simple and deep levels. I notice that at present there are no second opinions available on IMDb, that's because it's clearly an excellent and worthy film it'd be madness to dis.

It comes as a surprise watching this to discover that psychiatry, in this country, was in such a state of infancy

[christopher-underwood · 8/10 · 5 October 2018]

It comes as a surprise watching this to discover that psychiatry, in this country, was in such a state of infancy. Although it was about to be introduced into the NHS, in the early post-war years the insane asylums, where anyone who didn't fit the norm, tended to be tossed still prevailed. The mental effects of warfare were a factor in alerting the authorities to cause and effect more clearly than early childhood incidents, which parents tended to do their best to conceal. So, here we have a film of vital social interest, so intriguing and indeed stunning a 1947 audience that the film receive many plaudits and became the official British entry at Cannes. Burgess Meredith puts in a fine and convincing performance and the entire film is presented in such a way as to titillate, excite and inform with the added bonus of a scary suspense element and killings.

Everything is always clear after it happens

[sol1218 · 7/10 · 16 March 2009]

***SPOILER ALERT*** A bit talky and at times confusing the film "Mine Own Executioner" is still way ahead of its time,when it was made in 1947, about the complexities of the human mind and how to go about, if at all possible, curing them.

Psychoanalyst Felix Milne, Burgess Meredith, resents being called doctor in that he's not qualified, by not having a medical degree, in being one. It's for that very reason that Mrs. Molly Lucian, Barbara White, contacts him in order to help her very unstable husband Adam, Kieron Moore, who from previous experiences hates doctors with a passion. Told by Molly that Adam had attempted to strangle her Felix has Adam visit him at his office to see what he can do for him. It's when Felix sees the very weird looking Adam, who also turned out to be a kleptomaniac, outside his house he realizes that his problems, besides being somewhat homicidal, are far greater then he ever imagined!

Having been captured by the Japenses during the war Adam was brutally tortured by them in a Japanese, in Burma, prison camp. Making his escape from his Japaneses captors Adam ended up killing one of them, a prison guard, by cracking his skull open with a bamboo pole. It's when Adam saw his wife in their darkened apartment that he mistook her for his Japanese captors and thus tried to murder her!

As Felix tried to cure his patient's severe mental problems he's also having an affair with family friend Barbara Edge,Christine Norden, behind his wife Pat's, Dulcie Gray, back. This leads him to neglect Adam which in the end leads to disastrous results for everyone, including his wife Moll, involved with him.

Far better then most movies made about the subject, psychology and mental illness, at that time without the usual quick fix in neatly solving things by the time the film is finally over.

****SPOILERS*** Felix Milne did what he could to help his troubled patient but in the end the problems that Adam had were far too great, and complicated, for him or medical science to handle. The fact that Felix failed despite his best efforts to help Adam Lucian shows how honest the movie-"Mine Own Executioner"-was. Psychology-like Felix kept saying in the movie- is not an exact science but far from it. It was that realization on Felix's part that had him change his mind, when he wanted to quit his practice, when he was confronted with another patient of his, who was being abused by his father for actions he had no control of, who desperately needed Felix's help: The sad and frightened little Charlie Oakes, Malcolm Dalmayne.

Brilliant and thoughtful

[smokeymirrors7 · 1 December 2004]

The first film to explore the use of lay practitioners in the Freudian theory, this film is so far ahead of its time as to be psychologically shocking. American Burgess Meredith's performance is one of the best of his career. The absolute certainty with which he portrays the uncertainty of the human psyche (his own as well as others') is the film's brilliance.

Torn with personal ambivalence, Felix is also torn with the knowledge that he is unable to save his worthwhile patient and his loving wife. A truly under-acknowledged and underestimated film, it deserves a viewing by all interested in film art, and in the development of psychoanalytic technique.

Psychiatrist, heal thyself too.

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 19 August 2014]

An old lady has died and left her estate to a foundation that now runs it as a free psychiatric clinic. You ought to see the place. Square footage galore, marble floors, modern furniture for everyone, a circular wooden staircase, the original of Van Gogh's "Blue Irises" on the wall. (Well, not that last, but it's a classy place.) Burgess Meredith, as one of the psychotherapists who does pro bono work at the clinic when not listening to rich old ladies in his own practice, gives one of his finest performances.

We meet a few of his patients. One is an ex RAF pilot, Kieran Moore, who has grown sullen over the past two months and finally tried to choke his pretty young wife. He doesn't seem to remember the incident, or is unwilling to talk about it during his first five minutes of conversation with Meredith. When he leaves, Meredith records his diagnosis in his notebook: "Schizophrenia. Split Personality." I'm a shrink and that's all wrong, but this is a drama not a documentary on psychiatric diagnosis.

Meredith is full of insight. Happy most of the time yet he realizes that he snaps at his loving wife an bullies her. And he's also treating a mutual friend, a cute married blond, with some sort of unresolved "sex problems." Meredith is attracted to his new patient but acts within the bounds of middle-class propriety.

The focus of the film is not Meredith's relationship with the flirtatious blond, though. It has to do with his attempts to try working through the repressed memories of Kieron Moore's terrible experiences as a Japanese POW.

It's an intelligently written and responsible film, not an uplifting soap opera. There is tension and tragedy.

Recommended, for adults, anyway.

I once met Nigel Balchin

[anthony-55 · 6/10 · 28 August 2006]

Interesting a previous reviewer said it might be the first film to feature psycho therapy. When I was invalided out of the army through Northfiuelds Hospital not long after the war my psychiatrist recommended I should read the book. Don't think I did. I worked in the Pinewood Story Department later and met Nigel Balchin. He had been in the army but had done better than me - rising to Brigadier General I think. Booze got him alas.

In this or one of his other books he used the words 'Boffin' for scientist and 'back room boys' - words that have gone into the language.

A Treasure

[jltmfti · 10/10 · 9 February 2003]

Meredith shines in this underrated film that may be the finest depictions of the profession of psychotherapy ever made. He is first-rate as he portrays a therapist struggling with his personal flaws and profound doubts as to his effectiveness with clients. Exciting, well-written, superbly directed, and excellently filmed by cinematographer Freddie Francis, this will have a special significance to any counselor who has ever wondered if he or she was doing any good for themselves or anyone else. I saw this film first as a young boy and while I did not appreciate the subtleties in the script at the time, I found myself drawn to the character of the therapist. Eventually, I became one myself and perhaps this film planted the seed of interest in psychology and psychotherapy. When a film has that sort of impact, it is nothing less than a treasure.

Psychological thriller of the day

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 22 May 2017]

MINE OWN EXECUTIONER is a psychological thriller released in Britain in 1947. Watching it today, it feels a lot like an early precursor to the wave of 'Vietnam vet' films that were being made in the 1970s. This one features a youthful Burgess Meredith playing a psychiatrist treating a disturbed war veteran and uses the narrative to explore the social milieu of the era. The film is very well photographed by the reliably great Freddie Francis and features an engaging supporting cast including Kieron Moore, John Laurie, and Christine Norden. It feels a little slow and staged at times, but it does build to a suitably dramatic climax.

A Mislaid Gem

[howardmorley · 9/10 · 16 July 2014]

I have an impressive collection of 1940s movies on DVD but this one has hitherto eluded me.Full marks then to www.youtube.com for up-loading this missing gem of a film and thereby giving me a viewing pleasure.Yes I know that in the immediate post war years the fall out of physical and mental stress from combat affected returning servicemen and that apart from their physical wounds there was a need to treat their minds through psychiatry.Consequently the film industry produced quite a few movies portraying the recovery treatment to war veterans and civilians.Examples were "Spellbound"1946 "The Seventh Veil"1947 & "Since You Went Away "1944.

Dulcie Gray is in her familiar role of a put upon wife (as she played in "They Were Sisters") but in this film she has more character & strength of mind when clumsily supporting her lay-psychiatrist husband (Burgess Meredith).I first saw the attractive Barbara White in "Quiet Weekend" (1946),the sequel to "Quiet Wedding"(1940) and here she has a grown up part playing Molly Sinclair Lucian.Kieron Moore plays her ill-fated mentally distressed war veteran husband, Adam Lucian, who is the main patient of Burgess Meredith.Nigel Balchin wrote the novel on which this screenplay was based.Another intelligent novel by him produced into a film was "The Small Back Room" produced the same year as "My Own Executioner",(1947).

Definitely worth another viewing as long as it remains uploaded on www.youtube.com.I rated it highly 9/10 as one of Burgess Meredith's best films, especially as I noticed it had a rating of only a bit above 6/10.

highly recommended

[guenzeld · 10/10 · 6 August 2009]

I will simply concur with most everyone else who has praised this excellent film and add only that it certainly wasn't underrated when it came out: critics were unanimous in their praise and the film was even selected as the British entry in the 1947 Cannes Film Festival.

The only pity is that the only thing that seems to be available on DVD or video are horrible copies that do not do the film's visuals justice. It can only be hoped that this is corrected one day soon.

I must correct one of the writers who credits the film's fine cinematography to Freddie Francis. The cinematographer on the film was in fact Wilkie Cooper, who did so much brilliant work throughout his career. Mr Francis did work on the film, as Cooper's camera operator. But the lighting, composition and creating of visuals was the work of Cooper and that fine art director William Andrews.

See the film. You won't regret it.

A profoundly thoughtful psychological thriller

[robert-temple-1 · 10/10 · 2 December 2017]

This is a highly superior film in every way, based on a novel and screenplay by the novelist and screenwriter Nigel Balchin. (He wrote the screenplays for Sandy Mackendrick's magnificent film MANDY, 1952; for THE MAN WHO NEVER WAS, 1956, see my review; and for 23 PACES TO BAKER STREET, 1956, see my review.) It was certainly a high point in the directorial career of Anthony Kimmins, who is largely forgotten today but here shows a positive genius and a Hitchcockian touch with the film's most exciting scene. The story concerns a conscientious and talented British psychiatrist who lacks a medical degree, but whose success with patients exceeds that of most of his colleagues. The professional tensions to which this gives rise are excellently portrayed. The psychiatrist is sensitively played by Burgess Meredith, who is perfect for such a part. His own demons haunt him, and his difficult relationship with his wife forms the backdrop to the main story, constituting a fine counterpoint which does not appear artificial, as could easily have been the case in less skillful hands. One day a charming young woman with a shining smile and expectant eyes comes to see him and begs him to treat her husband, overcoming his hesitancy to take on such a case. She says he recently tried to strangle her to death. Barbara White plays this young wife. She has an excellent screen presence, and it is a pity that she only appeared in six feature films and three TV roles. She only really worked in the film business fox six years. Her husband in real life was the actor who plays her husband in this film, the Irish actor Kieron Moore (born Kieron O'Hanrahan). They married in 1947, the year this film came out, having met and worked together the previous year in the film THE VOICE WITHIN (1946), a forgotten and apparently lost film of which no reviews are recorded. Moore is truly sensational in this part, playing a former airman who was shot down in Burma, imprisoned by the Japanese, and has become a split personality case. His performance is mesmerically convincing. The flash back scene of him being shot down is very realistic and unnerving, with the antiaircraft shells exploding all around him. The most amazing scene in the film involves someone climbing up a multi-storey fire ladder, and even Hitchcock could not have squeezed more nervous tension out of it than we see here. The drama of this film is multi-layered, intense, and highly-textured. We really do not know what is going to happen, as the tale becomes increasingly complex and worrying. Burgess Meredith's devoted, slightly hopeless, and long-suffering wife is played with great dignity and sensitivity by Dulcie Gray. Christine Norden plays an alluring vamp, wife of a friend, with whom Burgess Meredith has developed a guilty obsession. This was only her second film, as she only entered the film business in this year, 1947 and left it in 1951. In 1949 she appeared with Kieron Moore again in SAINT AND SINNERS, a film set in an Irish village and only recently resurrected on DVD, which I have not seen yet. (Slowly but surely the old British films are re-emerging after decades in the vaults.) The treatment of the profession of psychiatry in this film is remarkably profound, and avoids falling into the sensational superficiality found in most attempts to portray it in the cinema. At the time this film was made, an extreme case of shell shock resulting in a psychopathic condition was a highly topical subject, as there were many such difficult cases then in all the countries which had just recently emerged from the War. One could even say that in its own way, this film semi-qualifies for being a film noir, as it is steeped in the gloom of guilt and doubt of that time. And as with all films made in London back then, the streets are almost empty of traffic. Alas, alack, if only! This story by Nigel Balchin was subsequently filmed for British television in 1959, and as a Dutch TV movie in 1960.

The Lay Ahead

[writers_reign · 9/10 · 17 July 2012]

This is one of only a meagre handful of Nigel Balchin novels that were adapted for the screen with this and The Small Back Room being arguably the best known - in fact I know of only two more, Suspect (based on A Sort Of Traitors) and the recent adaptation of A Way Through The Wood. This is a woeful state of affairs for Balchin was a superb novelist with a gift for story-telling that made him part of a natural triumvirate - Nevil Shute and Norman Colline being the other two - of writers who also had day jobs - Shute worked in Aviation, Collins in Publishing and Balchin was a scientist. This is an excellent adaption, by Balchin himself, and is marred only slightly by - presumably to get a release in the US - changing the principal character from English to Canadian to accommodate Burgess Meredith; more noticeable is the inept performance of the wooden Keiron Moore but Dulcie Gray acquits herself well as Meredith's wife as does Christine Norden - in only her second film - as his mistress-in-waiting and Barbara White as the tragic wife who winds up with a tag on her toe. As others have remarked here, an excellent example of a lay practitioner at work.

A psychological war drama putting everything to a test

[clanciai · 9/10 · 15 November 2019]

This is a highly delicate psychological drama of a case of schizophrenia which proves too difficult to handle correctly. It is typical of such cases that they are completely unpredictable and can appear as jovial and harmonious as any perfectly healthy person when suddenly something else takes over which is too terrible for words. The director himself had a war background from both world wars and knew what he was directing as he visualized war traumas on film. The war scenes here are just a short parenthesis in the middle of the film and are passed by never to return, but they provide the essential key to the film and its horrible account of a traumatized war victim who never can get rid of his past. The dialogue is splendid and extremely sustained all the way through, and the three ladies also play an important part. Above all, it is Burgess Meredith's film who makes a perfectly convincing realization of a psychiatrist's difficulties when he is faced with an extreme case. As a psychological war drama, it is of the very highest rank and the higher, for showing the war as little as possible.

That Made A Pleasant Change

[vogun-17563 · 8/10 · 28 February 2018]

All rather refreshing for me. The subject has been done before of course, but I can't recall it being too often and not with as much class as this, at least in the UK, at that time.

I can't really add to the reviews on the plot and subject matter, only that I thought Burgess Meredith played his part very well in this, and gave us a complex character with his own questions. A shout for the other actors as well, who all put in strong performances with their characterisations too, regardless of the amount of screen time. There is even an uncredited appearance of Michael Horden in this, and I also had sympathy for the kid who briefly opens and closes the film really, with his two contrasting appearances.

The general look of this B/W film and feel of the film is also very good, with a well written script all combining to give this film an entertaining atmosphere about it. I particular liked the scene where there's some subtle frisson going on in the room, and there is the most minimal of eye movement happening between the actors, bar one, that say it all.

About two thirds of the way through, I thought where is it all going, as it didn't seem to be going anywhere in particular, then I thought, so what, I'm enjoying the ride. It was a good ride too, as the strands came together and the pace picked up, with a well done tension highlight (Hitchcockian, some say, and I agree) in a rescue scene.

Surprised to see that Director, Anthony Kimmin's previous films included quite a few George Formby films filmed prior to the war. This was his first after the war, and bears no relation whatsoever to the Formby films.

If you have the time, and enjoy old B/W movies, this very well may be for you.

Physician, heel theyself.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 28 July 2021]

Before discussing "Mine Own Executioner" I should explain something about the plot. Burgess Meredith's character, Felix, is called a psychiatrist in the film but he isn't one....he's a psychotherapist. Back in the mid-20th century, there wasn't a standardized degree to be a psychotherapist and many psychologists were NOT folks with PhDs, EdDs or PsyDs like today. In fact, if you could demonstrate your competence, you could even practice without any degree...yes, no degree at all. While this wasn't common, it was possible. In fact, one of the most famous developmental psychologists of the 20th century, Erik Erikson had no degree...but wrote tons of articles and taught at such prestigious schools as Harvard and Yale! So, in the USA, Felix might have been called a psychologist...and apparently in the UK someone like this might have been called a psychiatrist...even though they don't have a medical degree.

Felix is a very good therapist. However, conversely, he's not a particularly good husband and is distant from his wife. He even contemplates having an affair. In addition, while he's good at his job, he's filled with doubts. All this is thrown for a loop when Felix begins working with a very dangerous man. Adam is suffering from PTSD, as he went through hell in a POW camp during the war. But he also is showing signs of psychosis...and that could make him a dangerous person. What's next? See the film.

This is a very interesting film....especially since Felix is so good at helping people but is out of touch with himself. Interesting and well worth seeing...with a rather amazing final portion of the story.