Dont Bother to Knock starring
Richard Widmark, Marilyn Monroe,
Anne Bancroft, Donna Corcoran,
Jeanne Cagney
This Shows Marilyn's True Mettle!
Marilyn Monroes first bona fide starring role came in the taut, stripped-
down film noir Dont Bother to Knock. She plays a recently institutionalized,
none-too-stable babysitter, awkwardly tending a little girl in a Manhattan
hotel. Richard Widmark, jilted by the songbird (Anne Bancroft) in the hotel
lounge (The female race is always cheesing up my life, he pouts), puts the
make on the lonely blonde in room 809, to his regret. The picture benefits
by not being a Marilyn movie, but just a good little thriller with, as it
happens, a terrific performance by the future superstar. Monroes childlike
distraction eerily suits her rattled character, a misfit who cant distinguish
her tragic past from the confusing present. Kudos to Daniel Taradash
(From Here to Eternity), whose script contains a collection of tart slang that

neatly captures the noir feel--all without leaving the boundaries of the
hotel. --Robert Horton
Personal Review: Dont Bother to Knock starring Richard
Widmark, Marilyn Monroe, Anne Bancroft, Donna Corcoran,
Jeanne Cagney
I never was a big watcher of the Marilyn Monroe films. It is sad that all she
seems to be noted for are the comedy roles she did. This film is a dark
classic...Chilled me to the bloody bone! I agree that this film is ahead of it's
time, and if Marilyn had stuck with these types of roles, she wouldn't have
ended up typecast. Had she lived past the age of 36, she would have
given much more, I'm sure. This film was deep, dark and intriguing and
even those who aren't into Marilyn should give this film a view.
I put this way up there with the 1950's version of "The Bad Seed" as far as
the effectiveness it has at creeping out even a modern day viewer! Both
films were ahead of their time.
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