Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Murphy Howard I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

s_ano I was not looking forward to watching this movie because I have never been a fan of Marilyn Monroe. After watching it twice, I have to say I am so happy that I did watch it. It starts kind of slow, but once it gets going the craziness does not stop until the very end. From the very beginning, you can tell there's something that's just not right with Nell. Towards the middle, Jed gives me a really creepy vibe. Like, who just peeps in on some random person in a hotel room?! And the fact that Nell just went with it really kind of grossed me out. CREEPY!! Then, when she started going crazy on Bunny, I almost cried. The girl was so sweet and so innocent, I don't understand how anyone could do such terrible thing to a child like that. I know if I were her mother and walked into that scene, Nell probably wouldn't have been around to get dumped into the loony bin.

blanoue324 Having never seen a Marilyn Monroe film I was expecting a little more. The actor Richard Widmark reminds me a lot of John Wayne. He plays a very serious character in this movie. I found the plot to be weird. The guy meets a woman he sees in a room across the way. Then he goes across to meet her and she falls in love with him. It just seems a little too made up. Marilyn Monroe plays a very mentally fragile woman. But she does it very well. She's very good at playing this crazy damsel. The Lighting in this movie makes Marilyn Monroe look perfect in every scene. It is also used very well when Marilyn is threatening the girl. Everything is dark which relates to her sinister threats. The camera work is also good. The movie is filled with close up's of all the conversations. One shot in the movie that is very good is when Marilyn rides down the elevator and the door pens but the cage is still there making it look like she's in jail. I didn't particularly like this movie because the plot was just too weird for me.

e-derubertis I thought this movie was good but nothing really wowed me. I think that acting could've been a little better. For example, when Nell is crying it seems very fake but the fight seen before that was pretty good and I was surprised at how hard Jed pushed nell to the ground. The story line was good, it sorta reminded me of "Maid in Manhattan" when Nell puts on the womans clothes went she isn't around, just as Jlo did in "Maid in Manhattan". I was just as deceived as Jed was when I came to find out how crazy Nell actually was, especially when she hits the elevator man in the head! Although it was surprising how crazy she actually was, I knew from when she kept telling Jed to stay and that they were meant to be together, that she was a little weird. I was waiting for Lyn Lesley to walk into the room at some point during the movie. I guess its sort of a weird movie because its a lot of things, a thriller, a bit of a love story, and Nell makes it a little creepy in a way. Overall it was good, but I think that if it were to be remade it could be a thousand times better.

popcorninhell 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. Six months into the relationship, Lyn has decided that the looming problems of Jed's complacency and cynical nature are enough to warrant an end to their relationship. "You lack an understanding heart," says Lyn before getting back on the stage of the hotel's lounge for another set. She leaves; Jed is devastated, "How About You" plays in the background. Jed walks upstairs to his room and immediately gravitates towards a mysterious blonde who occupies the room across. He wants to get to know her; he picks up the phone...she answers. The woman on the other end is of course the sultry Marilyn Monroe who is working as a babysitter for a wealthy family. She's starry eyed, possesses pinup girl good looks, is magnificently poured into another woman's garments and is mentally unstable.I need not expand on Marilyn Monroe the legend but it's important to realize that throughout her career she had a surprising amount of control over her image. She leaned into the idea of becoming the "blonde bombshell" sex symbol that made her a star, all the while trying to shout down critics who claimed she couldn't act. Don't Bother to Knock is a minor piece in her filmography for this very reason. It was sold as the movie to debut Monroe as leading lady talent but only succeeds in making look silly. 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. Her brief interactions with Elisha Cook Jr. who plays her uncle and the hotel's elevator operator exudes paternal tenderness. Her moments with Bunny (Corcoran) the child she babysits, erupt in bratty tartness. However inconsistent, when she was on the ball she really was on the ball.Sometimes she carried a movie to near greatness through sheer sex appeal. How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) the very next year proved Monroe a real driving force in box office returns. Don't Bother to Knock however shows an actress unable to find her voice amid a tempest of wrought melodrama. It's evident Monroe's very real immaturity was more of a trap than an act. 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). While almost distractedly modest in scale and scope, the film nevertheless crackles with spurious dialogue. Given the film's common appeal and limited location settings one could see a entertaining if disposable stage play being made out of it. Sure it's not Shakespeare but as far as Marilyn Monroe vehicles go, it rivals Bus Stop (1956) in its ability to dilute the budding star to whatever essence she allows herself to reveal.Don't Bother to Knock is a wholly disposable film that inconsistently glimmers under the glam of its star. While not quite as awkward as River of No Return (1954), the film can't help but feel minuscule and trivial thanks to average acting, director Roy Ward Baker's meandering direction and a fundamental misunderstanding of psychology. Don't Bother to Knock? I'd simply say don't bother.