Mine Own Executioner was directed by Anthony Kimmins with a screenplay written by Nigel Balchin, adapted from his own 1945 novel of the same name. Burgess Meredith, who had long suffered from bipolar disorder, was undergoing some problems of his own during the filming of Mine Own Executioner and sought guidance from the British psychiatrist who served as the film's technical advisor. "I told him I thought I was on the way to some sort of a breakdown or collapse," said Meredith in his 1994 autobiography So Far, So Good, "and I needed advice. What should I do? In his clipped, British way, the doctor suggested, 'Why don't you have children? Sometimes that helps.'" Meredith followed the advice and went on to have two children with wife Kaja. "The children brought me first an almost explosive happiness," he said, "and then a sudden emergence into some level of tranquility."
Reviews for the powerful and disturbing film were generally positive. The New York Times critic wrote, "As the most recent in an exceedingly long line of cinema psychological studies, Mine Own Executioner has the singularly refreshing attribute of depicting its hero as being somewhat less than infallible....[The film] is, like the mental mazes its harried 'unqualified' analyst seeks to chart, serious, adult and highly interesting film drama both in point of view and execution...Burgess Meredith does a workmanlike job as the consultant who 'spends his life sorting out messes' but can't do the same for himself...Kieron Moore is equally honest in his delineation of the schizophrenic ex-RAF pilot torn between the love of his adoring wife and his mental burdens."
The review in Time magazine noted that "Woven through this melodrama is the complex story of the psychiatrist himself, his professional work and private fears. He is neither miracle man nor mad scientist, as Hollywood so often presents men of his trade. The audience can respect his talents while fearing for his fallibility...Ordinarily, such complications merely confuse a movie. In this intelligent production they enrich the picture's general interest and sharpen the melodramatic suspense. Meredith's performance, his best in a long time, could carry the picture singlehanded...The picture, made in England by Fox, is well filmed and has a climactic scene high on a fire ladder which is an excellent piece of pure scare."
Producers: Anthony Kimmins, Jack Kitchin
Director: Anthony Kimmins
Screenplay: Nigel Balchin (novel); Nigel Balchin
Cinematography: Wilkie Cooper
Art Direction: William C. Andrews
Music: Benjamin Frankel
Film Editing: Richard Best
Cast: Burgess Meredith (Felix Milne), Dulcie Gray (Patricia Milne), Michael Shepley (Peter Edge), Christine Norden (Barbara Edge), Kieron Moore (Adam Lucian), Barbara White (Molly Lucian), Walter Fitzgerald (Dr. Norris Pile), Edgar Norfolk (Sir George Freethorne), John Laurie (Dr. James Garsten).
BW-108m.
by Andrea Passafiume
