Don't Bother to Knock (1952)

After being dumped by his girlfriend, an airline pilot pursues a babysitter in his hotel and gradually realizes she's dangerous.

Director:

Roy Ward Baker (as Roy Baker)

Writers:

Daniel Taradash (screenplay), Charlotte Armstrong (novel)

Stars:

Richard Widmark, Marilyn Monroe, Anne Bancroft

Cast

Complete credited 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
Verna Felton	...	Mrs. Ballew
Willis Bouchey	...	Joe the Bartender (as Willis B. Bouchey)
Don Beddoe	...	Mr. Ballew
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Emmett Vogan	...	Toastmaster (unconfirmed)

Storyline

Airline pilot Jed stays at the New York hotel where girlfriend Lyn is a singer. He sees Nell in a window opposite his and they get chummy. When the girl she's baby-sitting, Bunny, enters Nell goes crazy and sends her to her room. She fantasizes that Jed is her long lost fiance. Jed comes to realize that Nell is more than a little whacko.

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Plot Keywords:

lying | tearing up a letter | female singer | handwritten letter | putting out a cigarette | 

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Taglines:

...a wicked sensation as the lonely girl in room 809!

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Genres:

Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

August 1952 (USA)

Also Known As:

Night Without Sleep

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

76 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Donna Corcoran is the only member of the cast still alive today.

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Goofs

When Lyn and Jed get photographed in the bar by the camera lady, she snaps only one picture of them. When she brings the novelty items (handkerchief, matchbook, ashtray, and postcard) to their booth minutes later, the handkerchief shows a slightly different pose than the others.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Mrs. Emma Ballew: After all, we guests who live here from year to year, we deserve a little consideration, too.

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Connections

Referenced in Educating Eva (1985)

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Soundtracks

How About You?
(uncredited)
Music by Burton Lane
Lyrics by Ralph Freed
Introduced in Babes on Broadway (1941)
Performed Eve Marley (uncredited) dubbing for by Anne Bancroft

User Reviews

Marilyn's best performance.

A hotel guest flirts with a beautiful woman after a breakup from his girlfriend. He is seduced by the woman while she is babysitting. The child wakes up and terrorizes the child and the guest. The moral to this movie is never judge a book by its cover. Marilyn Monroe give her best acting performance in the whole movie and makes you understand her character emotions through the story. Very rare to find a movie with this type of acting even today.