Don't Bother to Knock (1952) User Reviews (125)

Don't tell mom the babysitter is NUTS

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 29 July 2005]

Marilyn Monroe and Richard Widmark star in this early Monroe star vehicle. This is one film you'd never see being made today, due to the new child-care sensibilities. Jim Backus and Lorene Tuttle leave their child with a complete stranger while they go out for an evening. The stranger is Monroe, complete with wrist scars, who is the niece of the elevator man in the hotel where the couple is staying. Mid-evening, she picks up with Widmark, who is more upset about his lounge singer girlfriend (Anne Bancroft) breaking up with him than he thought he would be - he and Monroe flirt from their respective rooms. Widmark goes to the room, expecting a night of fun. Instead he and the hapless child get a night of terror, with Monroe believing Widmark is her dead pilot boyfriend and nearly killing not only the little girl but her uncle as well. Turns out, Marilyn's been institutionalized and her uncle (Elisha Cooke, Jr.) thought she was "nearly well." Monroe is very good in this - very beautiful, of course, as well as vulnerable and believable. The wild look in her eyes when she scolds the little girl is downright scary. One thing that has always bothered me about Monroe doing drama is her very excellent diction which always sounds studied and unnatural. It's a distraction in this film as well. However, she's so watchable in everything - the camera just adored her - I have to believe that as she lived and aged, she would have had more chances at drama.

Widmark is excellent as the apparent cynic who proves to have more to him than his girlfriend thought - in fact, his character was much better with the child than Monroe's; Bancroft's role is small and belies her future dramatic appearances; and there is a cameo by "Honeybee Gillis," Joan Blondell's sister Gloria, as a photographer.

Marilyn Monroe in 1952

[paulfairbanksusa · 8/10 · 1 March 2018]

1952 was just before Marilyn became Marilyn and 10 short years before her death. Look at her character here and look at her performance. She plays a psychopath. brilliantly. Look into her eyes and tell me if she's not totally there. Dangerous and tender. Thorough and insane. I know I had seen this film before but the truth is I didn't remember. Another plus is an early glimpse at the wonderful Anne Bancroft, billed above Marilyn here. For film buffs this movie is a total must.

The Babysitter and the Flyer

[telegonus · 7/10 · 5 December 2001]

This is an odd film, if only for its credits. It was written by Daniel Taradash, a first-rate screenwriter who the next year would write the screenplay for From Here To Eternity. The director, Englishman Roy Ward Baker, had a varied and eclectic career, mostly in his native country, where he directed, among other films, A Night To Remember and Quatermass and the Pit. Screen sexpot Marilyn Monroe plays a psychotic babysitter who encounters a tough-minded and cynical airline pilot and causes him to change his outlook. Miss Monroe was not known for doing drama, which she plays here, in black and white no less, and is excellent. But that this was one of her first starring roles she seems a peculiar choice to play the troubled young woman. Richard Widmark, often a bad guy, is here only partly bad, and is proficient but rather dull and, for him, colorless. Dramatic actress Anne Bancroft plays a singer, and Widmark's girl, a role one might have expected Marilyn to play. And so it goes.

The movie is compelling, if never really entertaining, and seems at times as confused as Monroe's babysitter as to what sort of film it wants to be. It is a bit of a psychological drama, a bit of a thriller. filmed like a noir, studio-bound, which makes it also unrealistic, it is in many respects a mess, but a watchable one. The central set of the hotel in which nearly all the action takes place, is impressive, as are the various characters who either live, visit or work there, who at times seem like inhabitants of an enormous cave or reef, and as such denizens of the place rather than employees or guests. There is a nice sense of how dull night life can be in the heart of a supposedly exciting city (New York). There are no especially good or bad people in the film; just those who understand Monroe's plight, and empathize with her, and those that don't. Young Marilyn more than rises to the dramatic occasion, however, and gives a fine performance, far more worthy than the script, and more animated than her co-stars, and in the end steals the film and our hearts.

Monroe fans will want to see this

[michael.e.barrett · 27 May 2001]

What's interesting about this movie is that it's so disturbing. Considered a minor film in Monroe's canon, it's uncomfortable to watch now that we're so saturated with information about her unhappy life. She plays a woman who's had a nervous breakdown because she tried to escape a miserable family life by falling for a young fighter pilot. They had sex in a hotel before marriage, then he went away and got killed in the war and she tried to slash her wrists. So her folks put her away in a funny farm, and now she's come out to live in the city with her uncle, who reminds her of her unsympathetic, impatient parents. That's dark territory for Monroe, and you can't help wondering what she thought of the role. In any case, it's rather uncanny to watch her breaking down. She abuses the girl she is babysitting by tying her up, and at one point she says tellingly about the crying girl "They stop if you ignore them." We are left to conclude that this is how she herself has been treated. In a later speech to the girl, she identifies herself and her goals with the girl and her goals. "We can all get what we want and live happily ever after, understand?" But she does not play a psychopath, as her role is so often described. In the opinion of Widmark, whose character matures and deepens through his encounter with her, she's just a mixed-up girl who "would never have hurt that kid." Although Widmark has a soberly happy ending, Monroe does not.

Marilyn's BEST Acting Ever

[poetcomic1 · 7/10 · 28 June 2017]

Marilyn without the Strasbergs, without the Russian drama coach, without the Method, without the hours locked in her trailer shaking with stage fright. And it is her best ever acting job. This is the ONLY film that really taps into the 'off-kilter' and wounded quality of MM and uses it as an indispensable element of the movie. Elisha Cook's little turn as an elevator operator and his repartee with M.M. is a memorable minor moment and one of many such delights scattered throughout. I've heard that Richard Widmark was very nice to Marilyn and helpful on the set. Of course with 40 or 50 takes for even short scenes, a Billy Wilder can put up on the screen a dazzling Sugar Kane in Some Like It Hot but this is the real Marilyn not just her sheer 'luminescent beauty'. Even by the time she made Niagara, something was lost already, though she was very good in that.

Very good and understated

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 1 August 2009]

DON'T BOTHER TO KNOCK is not one of Marilyn Monroe's more famous roles, though it is one of her earliest starring roles--and is far better than I'd expected. Marilyn plays a young lady whose uncle works at a hotel. He asks her to come babysit for some guests and everything seems fine...at first. At about the same time, Richard Widmark and his girlfriend, Anne Bancroft, are at odds--she wants to break up and he wants her back--but she'll have none of it.

Later, Widmark is feeling sorry for himself and notices Monroe through the window. On a lark, he phones her and tries to make a date. When she hangs up, he soon pops over to the room. While he seems like the one with the problem, she turns out to be seriously mentally ill. She thinks he is a long-lost lover (who is actually dead) and he becomes afraid of her, as she's very possessive and even frantic to keep him there. However, while her mental state is fragile, it quickly falls apart--and the child's life might just be at stake.

The film gets high marks for dealing with a very disturbed woman without being too salacious or exploitational. Yes, she's insane and there is some serious tension in the film, but the film makers don't let Marilyn's performance go "over the top"--making the film well made and memorable. I liked her vulnerability and think it's one of her better acting jobs--not as flashy or over-the-top as many of her later films, where she is almost a caricature of her sexy self. A well made yet very simple film.

Marilyn shows she could have been a fairly convincing dramatic actress.

[baldomanegro · 6/10 · 21 July 2002]

I had not a seen a movie with the greatest myth of the big screen for a long time. I had read very little about Roy Baker's "Don't bother to knock", so I was free of prejudices when watching the movie. I felt like watching Marilyn just acting. Happily, it was a pleasant experience. I think Marilyn reacted more than acted to a plot that brought her back to her sad childhood. That is why the viewer can almost feel her emotions as real ones which is something that makes the weird and a bit slow story be much more credible. From the rest of the cast, Richard Widmark shines in spite of having to portray a rather lame, superficial character with few redeeming features. Above all, I will remember this film for portraying a different M.Monroe from the typical dumb-blonde-girl-with-strong-sex-appeal that too often the big studios wanted her to be.

marilyn displays some true range

[budfairymemorial · 9/10 · 22 March 2006]

This film doesn't receive a lot of attention. I grew up a fan of classic film, and I only saw this one once until tonight. Seeing it for the second time (I can't imagine there are any other major-release MM films I haven't seen over & over) I was extremely impressed by the quality of the performance Marilyn turned in. Hardcore fans seem to generally feel that her performance in "the Misfits" is her finest; the role had more depth than many she played, and seemed highly personal. I argue that she does just as fine a job in just as deep a role in "Don't Bother To Knock." It's my belief that MM was _ALWAYS_ versatile and talented, but that the American public fell so deeply in love with the breathless (& brainless) beauty role, that the studios typecast her until they weren't sure her looks alone would be enough to guarantee the volume of gross profits which they expected from Marilyn's films.

Marilyn Goes Nuts

[evetilly · 7/10 · 21 June 2020]

For those who think Marilyn Monroe was nothing more than a sex kitten, Don't Bother To Knock might throw you for a loop. Monroe delivers one of her best and most interesting performances as a mentally unhinged nanny babysitting a young girl in a hotel who starts to believe the man across the street is the love of her life who disappeared years ago.

Things build to a fever pitch and Monroe goes further and further off the deep end and other residents and people in charge threaten to destroy her fantasy. It's a slow burner, but once it gets cooking, it's very thrilling.

The candle in the wind

[eadoe · 8/10 · 4 March 2007]

If you really want to see true vulnerability, watch Marilyn Monroe in the 1952 "Don't Bother to Knock" opposite Richard Widmark and Anne Bancroft. She plays a disturbed girl and at one point she comes down in the elevator, and when the door opens, her face alone will break your heart.

Anne Bancroft was interviewed about Marilyn and said that she had not been expecting the reaction she would have to that scene. She said when those elevator doors opened and Marilyn came out of the elevator, it stunned her and the rest of the cast and crew to watch her, she seemed so authentically confused and lost and vulnerable. Bancroft said it was the hardest scene she has ever had to watch, because you felt it was really happening to Marilyn herself.

She truly was a "candle in the wind".

"Did you ever take two called strikes, then hit a home run?"

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 24 November 2019]

Richard Widmark opposite Marilyn Monroe is a casting combination I never would have considered, and if you didn't know anything about the movie going in, you might think that they would be a couple at the center of the story. In a way they are, but in an entirely different way. Monroe's character is Nell Forbes, though I don't recall her last name being mentioned. As the story progresses, she becomes a very dark character, and it wouldn't be inaccurate to say that she displayed signs of mental illness. Though by that time, the scars on her wrist reveal a troubled past and you really don't know what you're in for. It gets really terrifying when it looks like she might push the young child she's babysitting out the window of a high rise! The entire tenor of the picture gets very bizarre at that point, as Jed Towers (Widmark, but again, where did the last name come from?) begins his transformation from a self centered heel into an 'understanding' human being. I have the term 'understanding' in quotes because it relates to his embattled relationship with hotel lounge singer Lyn Lesley (Anne Bancroft), and the word comes into play in a couple different parts of the film.

There's a very realistic looking scene near the end of the picture when Jed makes the save for the young girl Bunny (Donna Corcoran) which made me do a sit up and take notice. Grabbing Monroe's character by the shoulders, he quite violently knocks her to the ground as Bunny's mother reacts to her daughter's well-being. I had to replay that scene a couple of times because it didn't look faked, and appeared like Monroe took a pretty good slam to the ground.

Watching Marilyn Monroe in this film goes some way to dispel the idea that she was just a fluff actress. She might have been had she been typecast with the poofy glamor roles like the one as Sugar Kane Kowalczyk in "Some Like it Hot", even if that one did come out a few years after this one. Personally, I think she did her best work in 1961's "The Misfits".

I got a kick out of the line of dialog in my summary above. It was spoken by Elisha Cook Jr. in the role of Nell's Uncle Eddie, who well knew of his niece's troubled past. He was explaining to her how people with problems can recover to overcome them successfully, but all I could think of was how it was a premonition of Marilyn Monroe's future romance and eventual marriage to baseball great Joe DiMaggio. Sometimes things just work out that way.

Marilyn Monroe really should have tried more dramatic roles, because she's great here

[zetes · 8/10 · 11 June 2012]

Excellent drama starring Marilyn Monroe in possibly her best role. She did this movie specifically to prove her worth as an actress, and she definitely succeeds at that point. Richard Widmark co-stars. After breaking up with his girlfriend (Anne Bancroft, in her debut), Widmark spots Monroe through her window across from his hotel room. He invites himself over there. She's babysitting, but she immediately lies about who she is and what she's doing. It turns out she's kind of a nutcase and has just recently returned from the mental hospital. She begins to mistake Widmark for a dead former boyfriend, and it seems as if the girl she's babysitting may be in danger. This is a tight little film, running at just under 80 minutes. Elisha Cook Jr. co-stars as Monroe's uncle. Widmark is every bit as impressive as Monroe. It's too bad Monroe didn't get to try her hand at more dramatic roles.

Monroe doing work

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 24 January 2023]

Airline pilot Jed Towers (Richard Widmark) gets dumped by lounge singer Lyn Lesley (Anne Bancroft) and she refuses to take him back. Elevator operator Eddie Forbes (Elisha Cook Jr.) gets his niece Nell Forbes (Marilyn Monroe) a babysitting job with one of the hotel tennants. Jed's wandering eye spots Nell dancing outside his rear window. She turns out to be troubled.

The four top names are simply blowing my mind. Of course, the most interesting is Monroe. It's early in her career. She is still not fully Marilyn. She is actually trying to do serious work playing a damaged character. It's some of her better acting work. It's a must for anyone who truly loves her.

An Itch To Scratch

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 1 August 2008]

Don't Bother To Knock finds airline pilot Richard Widmark flying with more than the safety of his passengers on his mind to New York. He's on a mission to confront Anne Bancroft who's given him a 'let's call it a day' letter. Anne works as a singer in a posh New York nightclub attached to one of the fancier hotels. After a nasty scene with Bancroft, Widmark's left with an itch to scratch.

The answer might be Marilyn Monroe across the courtyard looking real provocative and arousing Widmark's interest. He gives her a call and things might be going good. Then the little girl, Donna Corcoran, wakes up from the next room and Marilyn starts to act very weird indeed.

This one was one of Marilyn's first roles which exploited a little more than her beauty. She plays a troubled young lady who's just spent some time in a mental institution. Her uncle Elisha Cook, Jr., got her that job as a babysitter for Corcoran whose parents Jim Backus and Jeanne Cagney are at a banquet in the hotel. Truth be told the role was no stretch for Marilyn given her own sad history.

Widmark's not a particularly noble character here, but he's a decent enough man. He's just like millions of other men who when they lose their love, cure it with trying to love what's available. Anne Bancroft makes a nice screen debut here although I can't believe she sung those songs herself. If so, why didn't she do any more singing on screen?

Though the film gets melodramatic and the characters don't give you any real rooting interest, Don't Bother To Knock remains a landmark film for the careers of both Marilyn Monroe and Anne Bancroft.

An unstable young woman takes a babysitting job at a New York City hotel and wreaks havoc on the various residents.

[verna55 · 16 September 2000]

This psychological suspense flick was one of Marilyn's first leading roles and gave the sexy star an opportunity to play a serious dramatic role. Viewers who have never seen the great Monroe in a serious part will be amazed. She really was a very gifted and versatile actress. Sincerely, if you have ever dismissed Monroe as just another pretty face, you should really see this film. If after that you're still not convinced, then rent BUS STOP.

Marilyn in real life

[HotToastyRag · 7/10 · 18 September 2020]

Don't Bother to Knock was special for three reasons. Richard Widmark, who usually played villains, got to play the innocent hero and the love interest. Anne Bancroft made her screen debut as a lovely nightclub singer. And it was the only time Marilyn Monroe got to play a character as emotionally unhinged as she was in real life! I know that sounds harsh, but if you've read a dozen biographies on the blonde bombshell like I have, you'd know her emotional turmoil was just as memorable as her star power. If you've never seen her in a drama and want a change of pace, rent this thriller.

She stars as a woman recently released from a mental institution, emotionally raw, frightened, and incredibly insecure. Perhaps this role hit a little too close to home and Hollywood didn't want her to give a repeat performance, but I liked seeing her in the realistic part. Rather than giving her open-mouthed grin and rattling off a silly one-liner, she's constantly nervous. She puts on a black negligee and invites a total stranger to her hotel room, but mid-seduction she changes her mind and nearly has a mental collapse. She abuses her power as a babysitter by threatening and punishing the child so she can feel more powerful and in control, and at inconvenient times she hallucinates.

I'm building this up, but she doesn't give the performance of a lifetime. Marilyn Monroe wasn't known for being a great dramatic actress, and for good reason. She just didn't have the chops. I'm building this up because I always find it very interesting to see an actor or actress playing a part that reflects struggles in their personal life.

And I haven't even touched on the other two reasons for why this movie is special! I'm a huge Richard Widmark fan, and I always found him far too handsome and charming to keep playing bad guys. In this movie, compared to Marilyn, he's the innocent victim. His girlfriend is Anne Bancroft, a lovely, sweet, nightclub singer in a hotel lounge. They chat in between her numbers, but when he makes it clear he's not the marrying kind, he leaves the lounge and gets seduced by the busty blonde across the hall. It's not really fair to compare Anne to Marilyn, but it's still a great break for her debut. She gets the camera all to herself during her musical numbers, she holds her own against an established leading actor, and she shows audiences at home that she's respectable, strong, and has that rare commodity: self-respect. You can't make a better first impression than that, can you?

Acting ability aplenty, You Will Believe.

[emhughley · 7/10 · 8 June 2005]

When I was a young kid of about 7 yrs old I saw this film on TV. This performance by Marilyn Monroe sparked an interest that would stay with me for another 39 years. The vulnerability and desperation in her eyes to me as a child, went way beyond acting. Her image in this film just never left me. Marilyn Monroe truly was a talented actress period. So effective is she in this somewhat cheap and overblown drama that when all is said and done, you are convinced that shades of her character Nell were a part of Marilyn the person. Especially now that we know almost every sordid/sad detail about her private life.

Sure the film is a bit shaky in its production values but you cant take your eyes from the screen when Monroe is on it. Of the attempted suicidal ending with Monroe, Ann Bancroft once said. "Those last moments with Marilyn were the truest forms of acting and realism I ever felt in my whole entire career with any actor, ever." That last scene is hard to watch and after seeing it you will agree that she gave a hauntingly effective character analysis. She was acting from pure, honest instinct and/or possible experience. Doubly sad because we know that mental illness did run in her family. I pay her my highest compliment by urging you to view her performance in this film. I believe you will see what I saw all those years ago. Im not saying its her best film as a lot of fans adore her platinum blonde alter ego. But when given a chance to be something more than just a sexpot, MM in "D.B.T.K." delivered a fascinating performance of many telling dimensions. You will believe!

Low-key but interesting drama with a fine Monroe performance

[BJJManchester · 6/10 · 14 January 2008]

A modestly made and produced drama with thriller elements,DON'T BOTHER TO KNOCK's virtues are mostly due to it's decent cast (Richard Widmark,Anne Bancroft,Marilyn Monroe,Elisha Cook Jnr) which takes one's mind off the sometimes dull script and average direction (by Briton Roy Ward Baker,here billed as Roy Baker).The story itself is pretty slight,if nonetheless a trifle daring for the early 1950's;a fighter and airline pilot (Widmark) tries to rekindle his romance with a nightclub singer (Bancroft) while she works at a hotel.Meanwhile,a hotel elevator operator (Cook Jnr) manages to get some babysitting work for his niece (Monroe) there after she was released from an institution,though it is obvious that she is still very disturbed (still pining over the death of her fiancé,in aerial combat),putting the child involved in considerable danger.

The film as a whole is somewhat static and stagey,with (barring the start and end titles) the total absence of a musical score which could've enhanced several of the more dramatic scenes.Some of the plot contrivances are sometimes far-fetched as well (particularly when after barely making contact with her initially,Widmark makes his way over to Marilyn's apartment in the hope of a new romance),with an ending that seems to rather improbably tie up all the plot's various loose ends.

The film's most notable aspect is the performance of Marilyn Monroe.Made about a year or so before she really hit the big time,she is surprisingly deglamorised and plaintive here,(aside from a few brief moments) a far cry from later roles such as GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES,THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH and SOME LIKE IT HOT.But this is not a real problem as she gives a convincing portrayal of a vulnerable,emotionally damaged young woman (which sadly was more or less the case for her in real life) in which she only sparingly uses her familiar breathy voice that became commonplace in her best known roles.This certainly isn't one of her best known parts,but deserves more attention as she showed beneath the looks was a very capable and talented natural performer,both dramatically and comically.Widmark,Bancroft and the ever-reliable Cook Jnr are also fine in their roles,but the relatively short running time (around 75 minutes),allied with the slightly prosaic feel to DON'T BOTHER TO KNOCK gives the impression that 20th Century Fox looked on this as a fairly mundane try-out for their rapidly emerging new star.Despite these factors,MM does not disappoint and the film retains a reasonable degree of interest to the present day.

RATING:6 and a half out of 10.

Sad . . . disturbing . . .

[Holdjerhorses · 8/10 · 12 January 2005]

On so many levels. Not just because of the character Marilyn Monroe played . . . but also because of the course she afterwards chose to take, as a performer.

In life, MM was never the dumb-blonde clown she so often portrayed on film. Yet she chose to follow that path of "marketability" from her earliest days -- perhaps because of advice -- "The only thing I had on was the radio," she famously said regarding her early calendar shoot (though that quote was delivered to her by her public relations handler).

Yet, in "Don't Bother to Knock," we have evidence of a talent far deeper and more affecting than anything she ever did, before or since.

Though then, and still, a B-movie, DBTK remains a highly disturbing piece of work from a remarkable natural actress who subsequently decided to pursue -- who knows, whether from instinct, advice or "the line of least resistance" -- a career based on superficial appearance rather than emotive depth.

Finally, of course, she morphed into the silly, slithering, sewn-into-her-Jean-Louis-gown "songstress" at President Kennedy's birthday party in Madison Square Garden in 1962, all drug-addled spray-netted helmet-haired breathiness and off-key baby-voiced "vocalizing." In DBTK, however, is ample evidence of the powerfully effective actress she could have been, had she taken a different road.

This is not to criticize the choices she made as a performer.

Doubtless, she would not be the legend she remains today, had she lived into her 60s or 70s.

But DBTK remains an archive of a complex and affecting screen acting talent, caught at the fork in her career's road, who chose surface over substance.

No matter how beguiling MM will always remain as a screen icon, there is this one and only proof of a talent even more devastating -- had she the guts or the advice to honor and follow it.

Sad, and disturbing, indeed.

great Monroe performance

[j-maloney13 · 6/10 · 15 April 2017]

Don't Bother to Knock is a solid film despite it being a slower film. Marilyn Monroe was terrific, playing an innocent, lonely girl who quickly turns into the maniac that she is. We get to see just how good of an actor she really was, instead of the sex symbol she was forced to be. Richard Widmark plays a relatively round character as a pilot, who starts out as a man without a heart but proves himself and his girlfriend that he does indeed care about others. The film was not a masterpiece in my eyes by any means, but for a 70 minute film, it was a memorable experience to see Monroe act with such strong emotion.

Roy Ward Baker seemed to enjoy using establishing shots in this film, with the over the shoulder shot being used quite often when characters were having a discussion. Low-key lighting also added to the suspense, especially in the little girls room when Monroe was having her most sinister moments. He utilized medium close shots for her most vulnerable moments, such as the end when the realization is setting it. The editing definitely contributed in making it a solid experience, but Monroe is what really made the film work.

A disturbing knockout of a performance by Monroe – if it's a performance

[bmacv · 8/10 · 24 May 2002]

If any doubts linger about the star power that Marilyn Monroe could generate, Don't Bother To Knock should allay them. Her performance as Nell, the hotel babysitter with the badly scrambled psyche, is utterly riveting, so strong and eerily accurate it overwhelms everything else about the movie. While she for the most part persists in her breathy, Betty-Boop delivery, her posture and visage express unimaginable hurt.

Admittedly, this begs the question of whether it was a performance, or whether the part drew out of Monroe foreshocks of malaise which, we know with benefit of hindsight, would culminate, 10 years later, in her death by her own hand. (Another portrayal of an unstable woman the year before drew its power from an actress whose own personality would come to be fragmented as well: Vivian Leigh in A Streetcar Named Desire).

The movie keeps its action within the confines of the McKinley, a Not-So-Grand Hotel in Manhattan whose lounge curiously sports a Wild-West theme. Amid the painted cowboys and cacti, chanteuse Ann Bancroft waits for airline pilot beau Richard Widmark, to whom she's just sent a Dear John letter.

But upstairs the real action commences. A couple in town for an awards banquet engages Monroe as baby-sitter through her uncle, self-important elevator operator Elisha Cook, Jr. Following their departure, it becomes clear that she may not have been the most prudent choice for watching over their young daughter. She starts nibbling the chocolates she lied about never eating and playing dress-up in the mother's gowns, perfume (`Liaison') and jewelry.

Through the open window, Widmark, on rebound, spots her vamping around and initiates a courtship of telephone calls and Venetian-blind signals. Finally, he shows up with a bottle of rye. Monroe enters into a psychic time-warm and mistakes him for the fiancé with whom she spent one night in a hotel (presumably reminiscent of the McKinley), the night before his plane went down in the Pacific. Soon the little girl is bound and gagged, and all hell breaks loose....

Don't Bother To Knock gets marginalized as a minor film – even a minor noir – but Daniel Taradash's script, facile in some of its microcosmic doings (like the side-story of Bancroft and Widmark), creates a strong and touching central character in Monroe. Though she was enjoyable in many of the funny/sexy roles that made her a legend, she may never have been more affecting than in her early roles in noir, also-starring in Clash by Night and starring in Niagara. But in Don't Bother To Knock she's unforgettable – a sad waif who kindles chaos wherever she walks.

Monroe Excels As Tragic Nell

[seymourblack-1 · 7/10 · 12 March 2010]

"Don't Bother To Knock" has an unremarkable story with little in the way of suspense, excitement, pace or interesting plot twists. What it does have, however, is a very talented cast who through their efforts elevate the whole undertaking to a higher level than could normally be expected with this type of material.

Jed Towers (Richard Widmark) is an airline pilot whose six month relationship with singer Lyn Lesley (Anne Bancroft) has reached a critical stage and so he returns to the hotel where she's employed to discuss their problems. She can see no future for them together as she feels that he doesn't have "an understanding heart" (a quality he shows by his rudeness to a lady photographer who asks to take a picture of Jed and Lyn together). Jed is completely bemused by what's happened and retires to his room with a bottle of something strong for consolation.

When Jed looks out of his window, he sees an attractive young lady in a room on the opposite side of the building and after speaking to her by telephone goes over to meet her. The prospect of some straightforward fun with this good looking stranger seems to offer the ideal tonic to help him get over the complications of his meeting with Lyn. Predictably, however, things don't turn out to be quite that simple.

Nell Forbes (Marilyn Monroe) is the niece of the hotel's elevator operator and through his recommendation had started working as a babysitter for a couple who were attending a function in another part of the hotel. As Jed and Nell gradually get to know each other, he finds some of her remarks and behaviour disconcerting and when the child she is looking after appears unexpectedly, Nell shakes her and harshly instructs her to return to her room. Jed starts to become concerned about both the child and Nell whose conduct steadily becomes more and more irrational and eventually leads to her violently tying up her uncle and gagging the little girl.

It later emerges that Nell had spent three years in a mental institution immediately prior to taking the babysitting job and that her breakdown had been triggered by the death of her boyfriend who, like Jed, was a pilot.

Marilyn Monroe's portrayal of Nell is excellent from the moment she first enters the hotel looking diffident and uneasy and then later, as the story continues she conveys her character's sadness, confusion, anger and gradual mental deterioration very convincingly. Richard Widmark is controlled and effective in his part and with great subtlety and skill navigates the transition of his character from being someone who is cold and cynical into a guy who is, in fact, caring and sympathetic. Anne Bancroft is remarkably assured in her screen debut and she, in common with most of the cast finds herself changed by the events which occur surrounding Nell's time at the hotel.

Marilyn's best acting( or emoting from her own depth)

[ckoldham · 9/10 · 23 September 2009]

I am no movie critic, but this film showed real depth from two of the most underrated actors in the business, and this was the golden age of "hollywood", the early 50's. Richard Widmark,who somehow later became almost a caricature of himself, as an edgy, slightly crazed character actor, is in this one an ultimately almost caring character. In this movie he just barely experiences an arc, but it is better than most of the roles they threw him later on. Who can forget the number of roles where his trademark evil cackle instantly typed his character? As for Marilyn Monroe, this movie really turned me around about her ability as an actress. Anyone who can look in her eyes in the later moments of this film and not see the depth of despair and disconnection there has just not lived enough to understand human nature and the vicissitudes of living in this world. If you can just suspend cynical disbelief for a couple of hours to watch this thing, she gives a heartbreaking performance that is completely believable, and those scars on her wrists are stigmata that may well belie her future. I think she was ultimately a truly tragic figure, an innocent(in her way)thoroughly corrupted by the system that made her a star. She was not the first and she will not be the last, but somehow, her fragility makes her the poster child for avoiding the star machine at all costs if you do not have the hide, and the mind, of a predator. In her last movie(I think) The Misfits, she projected the same kind of wounded innocence.

Heartbreak hotel

[Lejink · 7/10 · 17 May 2019]

Here's the film that gave Marilyn Monroe her first headline feature, as well as the acting debut of future Oscar winner Anne Bancroft and Hollywood directing debut of Roy (Ward) Baker. Throw in Richard Widmark as co-lead and Elisha Cook Jr in support, concoct an uncomplicated if slightly far-fetched plot, set it almost entirely in near-claustrophobic hotel rooms and you have a recipe for a tense, entertaining little movie, all over and done with in 75 minutes.

Monroe was apparently keen to demonstrate that she could act in an extended serious role and she largely convinces in this. She's certainly dressed down for the part and is a long way from the glamorous blonde her movie persona would later assume. She plays the part of a spilt-personality, damaged young woman, still affected by the death years ago of her pilot boy-friend, given a break for a job as a hotel child-minder by her uncle, lift operator Cook Jr. Quite an easy gig you would think, but she gets easily distracted, firstly by the nice clothes and jewellery of the wife who with her husband, hires her to look after their infant daughter while they enjoy a party downstairs and then by the handsome man in the rear window opposite her, played by Widmark, coincidentally also a pilot.

Oh and about him, he's portrayed as a bit of a heel, a heartless user of women, who's flown in at the behest of his current singer girlfriend played by Bancroft only to be told by her that the party's over between them. He's keen to keep her on his string however and plans to hang around his hotel room until the end of her evening set to make a last plea to her, but can't resist the allure of Monroe who he firstly spies at her window and then seeks out in the room she's baby-sitting for no doubt a flying visit. However, when the little girl irritatingly won't settle for the night and disturbs the two them as they're getting to know each other, this sets in motion a chain of events which escalates when firstly Cook and then the girl's mother check in on the room later.

Although you never really sense any danger throughout, with otherwise taut direction and solid playing, it still convinces as a superior low-budget thriller. Monroe you can see lacks a little confidence initially but ultimately grows into her kooky and slightly crazy role, Widmark is quite as good as usual and Bancroft impresses in a confident starting role. Hard to imagine that with all of this going for it, it's such a little-known film but it's certainly worth looking out for.

Tepid psychological thriller, interesting purely because it gives Monroe the first "serious" role of her career.

[barnabyrudge · 5/10 · 27 July 2006]

Marilyn Monroe gets to prove that she can be more than a sexy blonde bimbo in this 1952 thriller. For the first time in her career Monroe demonstrates her serious side, giving a solid account of herself in an intriguing role as a very psychologically messed-up woman. Alas, Don't Bother To Knock fails to catch the eye as the intended riveting psychological thriller, for it is paced too leisurely and lacks the authentic tension needed to make it a genuinely exciting film. Having said that, it is still worth catching especially if you are a Monroe fan and wish to see her in one of her more uncharacteristic roles.

Hotel elevator attendant Eddie (Elisha Cook Jr) overhears a couple asking around for a babysitter for their young daughter. The couple, Ruth and Peter Jones (Lurene Tuttle and Jim Backus), live on the eighth floor of the hotel and are in need of a babysitter so that they can attend a journalism awards ceremony in the hotel's ground floor ballroom without worrying about the welfare of their daughter Bunny (Donna Corcoran). Eddie decides that the job is perfect for his niece Nell (Marilyn Monroe), a beautiful young woman who has been living with him since her release from a mental institution. Seems young Nell went a little nuts after her boyfriend was killed in a plane crash during WWII, but the doctors and Eddie are satisfied that her mental stability is now on the mend. Meanwhile, moody airline pilot Jed Towers (Richard Widmark) is also staying in the hotel having been dumped by his girlfriend Lyn (Anne Bancroft). Lyn is a singer who performs every night in the hotel. When Lyn declares that she is absolutely and definitely ending her relationship with Jed, he storms up to his room… but soon catches sight of the attractive Nell, whom he decides to pursue in order to ease his frustration after breaking up with Lyn. Gradually, Jed notices that Nell is still psychologically damaged. In fact, she even mistakes him as her dead lover and refuses to let him leave her room. Eventually Jed manages to make his getaway, but later realises that young Bunny may be in terrible danger at the hands of her deranged babysitter……

Don't Bother To Knock is based on a forgotten novel by Charlotte Armstrong. Daniel Taradash's adaptation of the source novel is not very impressive. Scenes drag on pointlessly and the character motivations are often somewhat unconvincing. Monroe is surprisingly effective as the unbalanced Nell, but Widmark seems less enthused about his rather two-dimensional role. Bancroft plays it nicely in her debut performance as Widmark's ex-flame, but Donna Corcoran isn't given enough to do as the child victim whose safety is at stake. The film is tepidly directed by Roy Ward Baker (later a key director of several Hammer horror films), who struggles to generate much interest from the talky, static material. A few memorable scenes emerge, including a moment where Monroe contemplates shoving the kid out of the eighth storey window and a decent scene in which Monroe savagely assaults her uncle with a sweeping brush, but the high points are separated by a good deal of tedium. On the whole, Don't Bother To Knock is an unremarkable thriller. As noted earlier, it is perhaps worth catching if you're interested in Monroe's career or the '50s-style noir thriller, but it is not a film that you should immediately cancel all your social arrangements in order to make time for.