Don't Bother to Knock

"… a wicked sensation as the lonely girl in room 809!"

1952 1h 16m EN

👍

6.6

SOLID

★6.6TMDB · 172

DramaThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

An airline pilot pursues a live-in babysitter at his hotel and gradually realizes she is not as stable as perhaps she should be.

“… a wicked sensation as the lonely girl in room 809!”

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Cast

Richard Widmark
Jed Towers
Marilyn Monroe
Nell Forbes
Anne Bancroft
Lyn Lesley
Donna Corcoran
Bunny Jones
Jeanne Cagney
Rochelle
Lurene Tuttle
Ruth Jones
Elisha Cook Jr.
Eddie Forbes
Jim Backus
Peter Jones

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Roy Ward Baker
Writers: Daniel Taradash
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Tight 76-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

74 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Roy Ward Baker, shot by Lucien Ballard. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Lionel Newman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor George A. Gittens shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Richard Widmark and Marilyn Monroe and Anne Bancroft carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "… a wicked sensation as the lonely girl in room 809!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0044557 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Roy Ward Baker directs. Lucien Ballard behind the camera. Lionel Newman scores. George A. Gittens cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Tight 76-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
274 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Directed by Roy Ward Baker, shot by Lucien Ballard. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Lionel Newman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor George A. Gittens shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Richard Widmark and Marilyn Monroe and Anne Bancroft carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "… a wicked sensation as the lonely girl in room 809!".
8IMDB entry: tt0044557 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 9 themes, including "hotel", "based on novel or book", "detective", "pilot".

The technical file

Cinematography: Lucien Ballard
Original score: Lionel Newman
Editing: George A. Gittens
Costume design: Travilla
Makeup / hair: Esperanza Corona
Runtime: 76 min · 1h 16m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: Don't Bother to Knock (1952)

Also by

Roy Ward Baker

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

talisencrw2016-09-22
★ 8/10
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.
Cat Ellington2017-02-25
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.
CinemaSerf2026-03-06
★ 7/10
“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.