Don't Bother to Knock

Plot synopsis:
Lyn Lesley (Anne Bancroft), the bar singer at New York's McKinley Hotel, wonders if airline pilot Jed Towers (Richard Widmark) will show up. She had ended their six-month relationship with a letter. When Jed does register at the hotel, she explains that she sees no future with him because he lacks an understanding heart.
Meanwhile, elevator operator Eddie (Elisha Cook Jr.) introduces his shy niece, Nell Forbes (Marilyn Monroe), to guests Peter and Ruth Jones (Jim Backus and Lurene Tuttle) as a babysitter for their daughter Bunny (Donna Corcoran). The Joneses go down to a function being held in the hotel's banquet hall. After the child is put to bed, Nell tries on Ruth's lacy negligee, jewelry, perfume and lipstick. Seeing Nell from his room directly opposite, Jed calls her on the telephone, but she is not interested. When Eddie checks up on Nell, he is appalled to find her wearing Ruth's property and orders her to take them off. Eddie tells her she can obtain such luxuries for herself by finding another boyfriend to replace the one who was killed. After Eddie leaves, Nell invites Jed over.
Nell lies to keep Jed believing that she herself is a guest. She is startled when Jed reveals that he is a pilot. She confides that her boyfriend Philip died while flying an airplane to Hawaii. Bunny comes out and unmasks Nell's charade. Furious, Nell shakes the child and orders her back to bed. Jed comforts the crying Bunny and lets her stay up. When Bunny looks out the open window, however, it appears that Nell is considering pushing her out. Though Jed snatches the girl away, the incident is witnessed by long-term hotel resident Emma Ballew (Verna Felton).
Nell escorts the child to bed, then accuses Bunny of spying on her and implies that something might happen to her favorite toy if she makes any more trouble. Jed has decided to seek Lyn's forgiveness, but Nell begs him not to leave. As he is fending off a kiss from her, Jed sees scars on her wrists. Nell confesses that after Philip died, she tried to kill herself with a razor.
When Eddie checks up on Nell after his shift is over, Nell makes Jed hide in the bathroom. Eddie is irate that Nell is still wearing Ruth's things. He orders her to change clothes, then harshly rubs off her lipstick. This enrages Nell, who accuses Eddie of being just like her repressive parents. Then, when he suspects there is someone in the bathroom, she hits him over the head with a heavy object. While Jed tends to Eddie, Nell goes into Bunny's room.
A suspicious Emma Ballew (accompanied by her skeptical husband), knocks on the door. Fearing for his job, Eddie persuades Jed to hide behind the door, while he slips into the closet. Jed sneaks into Bunny's room. In the dark, he does not notice that the child is now bound and gagged. When the Ballews see him exit from the door of the adjoining room, they assume that Jed had forced his way in and was holding Nell captive. They alert the hotel detective. Nell, who is now so deluded that she believes Jed is Philip, locks Eddie in the closet and goes into Bunny's room.
In the bar, Jed tells Lyn about Nell. Lyn is surprised by his concern. Suddenly realizing that Bunny was on the wrong bed, Jed rushes back up. Ruth Jones arrives first and screams when she enters Bunny's room. Bunny is discovered and is set free. The two women grapple. Jed pulls Nell away, but she slips away in the confusion when the hotel detective arrives.
Eddie admits that Nell had spent the previous three years in a mental institution following her suicide attempt. In the lobby, Nell steals some razor blades. When she is surrounded, she considers using one. Lyn tries to calm her down. Then Jed persuades Nell to give him the blade, and talks her into realizing that he is not Philip. He finally manages to convince her that she should go with the police officers who arrive, telling her that they will get her the help she needs. Seeing that Jed does have empathy after all, Lyn reconciles with him.

Tags: murder

Review:
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.
Dramatic actress Anne Bancroft plays a singer, and Widmark's girl, a role one might have expected Marilyn to play.
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..
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..
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 give her best acting performance in the whole movie and makes you understand her character emotions through the story.
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..
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..
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.
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.
Directed by Roy Ward Baker and written by Daniel Taradish from a novel by Charlotte Armstrong, Don't Bother To Knock sees Marilyn Monroe take on a dramatic role to prove that she was more than a ditsy jello on springs.
"Don't bother to watch this film" would be better advice, if you like Marilyn Monroe in her other roles.
But this role just didn't fit her and it's no surprise it wasn't one of her more popular films.It's also too bad a film had the waste of the talents of actors like Richard Widmark, Anne Bancroft, Elisha Cook Jr., Jeanne Cagney, Donna Cocoran and others.
"Don't bother to Knock" was surprising for a few reasons: Marilyn Monroe was chosen to act a rather emotionally complex lead role before her career had really taken off.The critics in the following years criticised Marilyn's acting largely until her critically acclaimed role in Bus Stop(1956),however I would think that her convincing performance in "DBTK" would have been enough to convince the critics that she was the next big dramatic actress.Unfortunately they did not see it this way.
Marilyn's psychotic babysitter is complemented by Richard Widmark's performance as the handsome visitor to her room.I feel that there are two parallel story lines which are interlinked in the film and eventually resolved;Widmark's lack of sensitivity in his relationship with a young Ann Bancroft; and the fate of Marilyn's character.
Marilyn Monroe may be the star attraction here, but the script belongs to Richard Widmark, who plays Jed, a man with a gruff, alienated exterior.
(I also feel that there WERE better-looking actresses back in the 1950s, such as Susan Hayward and Eleanor Parker, but don't get me started here...) Anyone looking for verification of Marilyn's acting talents should check out her performance in 1952's "Don't Bother to Knock," in which she plays a mentally unbalanced baby-sitter in a large NYC hotel.
In smaller parts are Elisha Cook, Jr., everyone's favorite character actor, as Marilyn's uncle; Anne Bancroft, here in her first film at 21 years old, as Widmark's ex; and Jim Backus as the father of the little girl that MM sits for.
For me, it is a film which displays the black-and-white, film noir genre of the 1940's into the 50's, and a glimpse of several performers from that period - in the three primary and the main supporting roles.Every actor here (except Ms. Monroe) plays a character who is about "a mile wide and an inch deep." Conversely, Marilyn's is "an inch wide and a mile deep." She is completely bonkers, and appears that she will become catatonic at any moment.
Richard Widmark is an airline pilot, whose romance with chanteuse Anne Bancroft is on the skids (solely because he wants "a drink, a kiss and a laugh"), while, heaven forbid, she wants more.He of course then schleps into Marilyn's life (she's babysitting for Jim Backus and wife, who are at an awards' dinner in the hotel, and the way the dangers to their daughter in this flick ensue, you'd think they must be a thousand miles away).Bancroft's job as the hotel lounge singer seems solely to involve her singing a periodic song, and drinking in-between numbers.Elisa Cook, who is a strange presence in all his films (see "Shane" and "The Maltese Falcon"), is Monroe's uncle, who got her the babysitting gig.
Richard Widmark and Anne Bancroft do their usual competent jobs and the supporting cast all do their roles acceptably, particularly Elisha Cook, Jr. Marilyn seems to be sleepwalking through a thinly written part.Whatever noir touches would have made the suspense more gripping and whatever more could have been done to make Monroe's role more believable, we'll never know.
This movie takes place in a hotel in New York City where Marilyn Monroe plays the roll of a babysitter.
After spending some time with Nell, Jed comes to find out that Nell is mentally unstable.I was surprised how short this film was, however Marilyn Monroe did a fabulous job acting.
This movie stars Marilyn Monroe as a women who appears all seductive and playing the usual role she is always portrayed as but then it takes a dark turn, as expected from noir films.
I really enjoyed this Roy Ward Baker film noir with Richard Widmark and early appearances by Anne Bancroft (singing, even!), Jim Backus and Marilyn Monroe.
Very rewarding both for fans of Monroe and the genre.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.
Don't Bother to Knock starts with airline pilot Jed Towers (Widmark) conversing with his soon to be ex Lyn (Bancroft) at the bar of a swanky New York hotel.
Her characterization of the shy and mentally unstable babysitter Nell Forbes is at times embarrassingly broad; like what a teenager would think a bereaved and psychotic young lady acts like.Yet at certain key moments (especially in the beginning), Monroe ably coasts on her waif-like innocence to engineer some pretty masterful moments.
Co-star Richard Widmark remarked on the making of the film that "we had a hell of a time getting her out of the dressing room...she was scared to death of acting."The real star of Don't Bother to Knock (if one had to choose), is its provocative screenplay written by Daniel Taradash (adapted by the Charlotte Armstrong novel).
In 1952's "Don't Bother To Knock" a very alluring, 26 year-old, Marilyn Monroe puts in one of the quirkiest character portrayals of her entire acting career.Even though this film stars the likes of Richard Widmark (and a young Anne Bancroft) - It's definitely Monroe and her performance as the mentally-unhinged babysitter, Neil Forbes, that the viewer will, no doubt, be paying the closest attention to.Now, I would never admit that Monroe's portrayal here was, in any way, "legendary" - But, hey!
After being dumped by his girlfriend, an airline pilot (Richard Widmark) pursues a babysitter (Marilyn Monroe) in his hotel and gradually realizes she's dangerous.This was Anne Bancroft's first film.
Don't Bother to Knock is for me the film where Marilyn Monroe has one of her best performance.
A pilot (Richard Widmark) tries to safe his relationship with his girlfriend (Anne Bancroft), the situation goes bad and he meets a girl Nell(Marilyn Monroe)in the Hotel.
I've seen all movies with Marilyn Monroe , I don't agree when they say she couldn't act, but this movie shows that she deserved more roles like this, she has her best performance here and she was ready for do great acting and not only for the beautiful blonde bimbo..
It's compact at a mere 76 minutes, with a FATAL ATTRACTION (1987)-type plot (Richard Widmark quarrels with chanteuse Anne Bancroft and flirts with young nanny Marilyn Monroe, who turns out to be mentally unbalanced  though the eventual violence isn't directed towards him) occurring in a single setting  a hotel  during the course of one night.Both female leads bring a welcome freshness to the proceedings (Monroe, who is surprisingly good here, would soon reach stardom in the Technicolor but noir-tinged NIAGARA [1953]); Elisha Cook Jr.
All set within the space of a couple pf hours in a big city hotel, Jed Towers(Richard Widmark) books into said hotel, where his ex girlfriend Lyn(Anne Bancroft) is a singer, his aim is to woo her back, she isn't interested because he doesn't give people enough respect.
Nell Forbes (Marilyn Monroe) with a history of mental illness, is recommend to a couple staying there as baby sitter by her uncle Eddie (Elisha Cook jr), the elevator operator.
Unintentionally funny co-feature from Fox was Marilyn Monroe's first starring role (a year before "Niagara"); she plays a delusional, pathetic young woman just out of a mental institution who ends up babysitting for a wealthy couple's child one night in a New York hotel.
Roy Ward Baker directed this psychological thriller that stars Richard Widmark as Airline pilot Jed Towers, who is staying at the hotel of his girlfriend Lyn(played by Anne Bancroft) who works as a singer in its lounge.
Bored, he notices the beautiful Nell Forbes(played by Marilyn Monroe) who is a live-in babysitter for hotel guests.
How much better would the narrative have been if he writer had flashed back to Ms. Monroe's earlier dilemmas, shown some violence against the little girl in the hotel room, supported Richard Widmark's personality that turned Ann Bancroft against him..
Strange Is Just the Start of It. Don't Bother to Knock (1952) ** 1/2 (out of 4) A rather strange thriller about a pilot (Richard Widmark) staying in a hotel but getting into an argument with his ex-fiancé (Anne Bancroft).
First viewed: June 19, 2010 My first ever viewing of this film left me impressed, with Marilyn Monroe's (MM) acting performance in a dark role as a disturbed babysitter.
This was her first ever leading role in a film.The story of "Don't Bother To Knock", concerns a young man, recently dumped by his lounge singer girlfriend, who becomes attracted to a young female babysitter (Monroe) at a New York City hotel.
Sure, Don't Bother to Knock eschews most of its chances at being a film-noir for melodrama (though the scenes of Anne Bancroft singing in the bar and talking with Richard Widmark come close to that feeling of it), but if it's done right and a little different like here then it's worth it.
Conventional wisdom would dictate that Marilyn Monroe would be playing the villain here, that she's a crazy babysitter who comes in and wreaks havoc on a night in a hotel room with a little girl shocked and a man she sees as the embodiment of her dead ex-husband from the war.
She's perfectly modulated with her co-stars, as Widmark does his usual good acting and a young Anne Bancroft (very striking to see singing in that bar) who really plays well off of Widmark as the scorned ex who wants Jed to actually care about something instead of being a cynical ass.
To me, that is a usually a plus, proving that the actors can carry a film without overt violence and cheap sensationalism.While the story is a bit thin, we do see the effects of Nell's (Monroe's) grief- she has lost her husband in the Korean War- she is traumatized and disjointed.Richard Widmark, and the sub-plot with Ann Bancroft reflect the conflicting cultural mores of the time.
I didn't find it particularly compelling, but interesting to see Anne Bancroft in her first movie - so young and pretty - as well as an early role by Marilyn Monroe, before she became a screen icon as a sex symbol.
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.
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.
Her unstable state is exploited by Widmark's character, who is angry at being dumped by his girl (Anne Bancroft in her first screen role), and "punishes" her by making a play for Monroe.
Film historians consider her performance here one to back up the claim that she was a talent that deserved more than she received.Monroe stars as Nell Forbes, a young woman whose uncle Eddie (Elisha Cook Jr.) works as an elevator operator in a posh New York City hotel.
After getting to know her for an hour or so, Richard Widmark, as air pilot Jed, remarks that Nell(Marilyn) is like silk on one side and sandpaper on the other, in her case, meaning that she seems coherent at times , but delusional at others.
The girl is rescued at the end and the psychopath is taken back into care by two coppers while the pilot makes up with his girlfriend.This movie features an excellent performance from Marilyn Monroe as the psychopathic baby-sitter and Richard Widmark plays the pilot.
Did Bancroft actually do her own singing here?The best performance in this film by far was by Verna Felton as a busy-body resident of the hotel, always complaining, and luckily she was on hand at the right time.Richard Widmark's character is interesting here.