Don't Bother to Knock

Just a couple of years back, I picked up this mammoth 17-film DVD collection of Marilyn Monroe's films for a really good price, only to find that the ridiculous way the discs were placed in the digipack basically ruined them, and after watching the movies the best that I could, I reluctantly had to part with it, hoping the set would soon be released at a decent price on the more resilient blu (as you can tell, I'm old-school and low-fi, but I'm hoping to quickly remedy this problem!). As you can tell by any of my prior reviews of Richard Widmark's films, I'm a huge fan of his, and he's easily one of my favourite and most entertaining and watchable actors of the period. As well, Roy Ward Baker is one of the most underrated directors of the period--his entry in The Criterion Collection, 'A Night to Remember', is easily the best telling of the 'Titanic' tragedy. Thus simply on the basis of those three alone, I heartily recommend the film to any adventurous cinephiles of this era.

Nell Forbes was by far the darkest and most volatile character Marilyn Monroe had ever portrayed in her entire career. Written by Daniel Taradash and directed by Roy Ward Baker, Don't Bother To Knock - a chilling and uncommonly masterful film noir thriller - gives its viewers an up-close glimpse into the crevices of a deeply disturbed human soul. Need a babysitter ... anyone? Yet another five star oeuvre, Don't Bother To Knock is an effort of prodigious degree in classic cinema.

“Lyn” (Anne Bancroft) is an hotel crooner who is in love with, but recently dumped, airline pilot “Jed” (Richard Widmark) who has consequently repaired to his hotel room with a bottle whilst she (well, Eve Marley actually) serenades him via the PA system. Meantime, across the courtyard a couple are attending a swanky dinner and so have employed “Nell” (Marilyn Monroe) as their baby-sitter. It’s fairly safe to say that she is completely disinterested in her charge, and so after a cursory story puts the girl to bed and starts to explore their suite. Donning an expensive robe and some jewellery, she is spotted through the window by the lovelorn “Jed” who calls up her room. She initially shuns his advances, but then a series of events occur that encourage her to invite him round. “Nell” is fairly selective and creative about the information she imparts to her new friend, but when the girl wakes up and then her uncle “Eddie” (Elisha Cook Jr) who drives the elevators arrives in the room, “Jed” begins to wonder what he has let himself in for. What is clear to us watching is that “Nell” is quite a disturbed girl who is obviously suffering or recovering from a trauma. As her boss’s (Lorene Tuttle) arrival compounds the agony for her, it is only then that we learn a little about not just her but of the true nature of the relationship between “Jed” and “Lyn”. It might be because this is in monochrome but this is maybe the most intense effort I’ve ever seen from Monroe. Her character is clearly walking on some kind of psychological tight-rope and she delivers that with a convincing degree of unnerving authenticity as this delicately paced drama advances. Widmark also delivers in a more considered fashion that we often see from him, and with writing that does what it needs to but that also leaves us free to watch events unfold, I found this to be quite a potent short feature.