Don't Bother to Knock

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.

Trailer—Don't Bother to Knock

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.

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".

to be absolutely honest, marilyn monroe acted extremely well in this film. I think it was the first i had everseen of her (2001) and after all i had heard about her acting as a "blonde bombshell" this picture sent me in another direction. SHE CAN ACT!! to see marilyn play a psychotic woman may not have been completely hard for her (no offense intended) but i feel it was superb acting! Ashame she wasnt offered more roles like this one

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 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.

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.

A hotel guest flirts with a beautiful woman after a breakup from his girlfriend. He is seduced by the woman while she is babysitting. The child wakes up and terrorizes the child and the guest. The moral to this movie is never judge a book by its cover. Marilyn Monroe give her best acting performance in the whole movie and makes you understand her character emotions through the story. Very rare to find a movie with this type of acting even today.

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.