DON'T BOTHER TO KNOCK (1952) ¢ ¢ ¢ 1/2
D: Roy Baker
Richard Widmark, Marilyn Monroe,
Anne Bancroft, Elisha Cook Jr.
Marilyn Monroe, before she went permanently platinum, gives one of her best dramatic performances as an unhinged babysitter caring for a young girl in an upscale New York hotel. Widmark's a cynical airline pilot with a wandering eye and a bottle of rye, who catches Monroe's attention from across the way. There's a bit of "Rear Window" going on here, and you can't help wondering how it might've turned out with somebody like Hitchcock behind the lens. It's still a good, efficient piece of work, and Monroe, playing the kind of girl you wouldn't want babysitting your kid, is both vulnerable and frightening.
