Film Review: Don't Bother To Knock (Roy Ward Baker, 1952)
This was a bit of a shocker for me, for a couple of reasons. Before I tell you why, let me introduce the film. DON'T BOTHER TO KNOCK (1952) was directed by Roy Ward Baker and stars Marilyn Monroe, Richard Widmark, Elisha Cook Jr., and Anne Bancroft. It's a tight, well-polished and gripping psychological thriller with noir leanings. The whole story takes place during a single night inside a hotel. Monroe plays a troubled young woman whose uncle (Elisha Cook Jr.) works the elevator. He got her a babysitting job for a well-to-do couple staying at the hotel. She's obviously troubled, for reasons yet unknown. From the start, and as the story develops, we are gradually and subtly given more and more reasons not to trust her. Meanwhile, Widmark plays a pilot also staying in the hotel. He's on the outs with his girlfriend (Bancroft), who sings in the hotel nightclub. Needless to say, the two storylines intersect, and the fun is seeing how it will happen and how it will turn ou