Don't Bother to Knock (1952)

hyped garbage

Don't Believe the Hype

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Don't Bother to Knock was a solid film that defied the expectations I had going in. When I heard the Marilyn Monroe starred in the film, I was expecting a much lighter, but still dramatic, picture. Instead, Monroe gives a fantastic and unsettling performance that lets us peer into the mind of someone truly broken and deranged. The movie does a good job at setting up her character's backstory, though it has a hard time giving us reason to be invested in most of the other characters. Marilyn is without a doubt the highlight of this movie, but on the whole the movie excels in many ways. The pacing is very good, and the movie makes the most out of it's short run time. It is also very well shot, with moody, shadowy scenes lending themselves well to the dark subject matter at hand. Though I think the story is engaging, it seems a bit underdeveloped, and more of an excuse to move from disturbing scene to disturbing scene. Overall however, I enjoyed this movie quite a bit and would recommend it.

While the movie was artfully crafted it was not necessarily enthralling. The plot sort of dragged on, only peaking interest with Marilyn's acting. In this film she was slightly deeper than her previous roles, moving beyond simple sex appeal. her role in this film is deeper, darker. She is a babysitter, yet she is involved with a random man. she is deceptive in that she had spent time in a mental institution, she hid this from the bosses. the lighting and cinematography in this film were important in the making of marilyn's character. the shadows kept her hidden in certain points, attaining the certain feel of film noir.

this movie is pretty good you don't expect Marilyn to be like this in a movie ever. I know people might be disappointed but at the same time its a shocker movie it's not bad it's pretty darn good for a Marilyn movie she plays a psychotic babysitter its hard to explain but you just have to see it for yourself to know. at the same time I feel bad for Marilyn throughout the film if like if you just woke up on the wrong side of the bed you got crazy and that's how it feels its a dark movie? I don't know maybe but if you want to see Marilyn play a suspenseful role this is a movie to check out. if you want something to get set up for this film watch Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" and "rear window" and yes those are both Alfred Hitchcock's films

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. Unfortunately, she is mentally unstable, and neglects her current assignment with a young girl named Bunny to pursue Jed, whom she is convinced is her deceased fiancée alive again... Good cast and direction, but film isn't particularly suspenseful or compelling, and doesn't amount to much; mostly for fans of Monroe.