Don't Bother to Knock
Starring Marilyn Monroe, Richard Widmark, and Anne Bancroft
Directed by Roy Ward Baker
Starring Marilyn Monroe, Richard Widmark, and Anne Bancroft
Directed by Roy Ward Baker
This one was "recommended" to me by Netflix after I recently watched another Marilyn Monroe film, Niagara. With it being a very short 75 minutes, I figured why not give it a shot. As of now, I still stand by the fact that Monroe isn't necessarily a great actress, but she's got a certain je ne sais quoi that completely captures my attention when she's on camera.
The movie begins with a young Anne Bancroft sitting at a hotel bar, preparing to perform her nightclub act. While singing, her ex-boyfriend, Jed (Widmark) walks in hoping to rekindle their relationship. Jed is denied and goes up to his room at the hotel.
Now we jump to a completely unrelated storyline with a young woman named Nell (Monroe) meeting the Jones's -- a family for whom she's babysitting for this evening. As the mom and dad go downstairs to the hotel ballroom, Nell puts the young Bunny Jones to bed and begins to dance around the suite. Jed happens to see Nell from across an alleyway in between the "U-shaped" hotel and he calls her up after she flirts with him in the window. Nell invites Jed over to the room, but soon Jed (and we the audience) discover that Nell may not be sane and may, in fact, be dangerous to herself and others.
Monroe is quite good here. Sure, she still uses her squeaky voice, but she brings depth and substance to her Nell. While some of her lines are simply silly, she manages to elevate herself above the melodrama that's present in 1950s films like this.
The real problem with the film (similar to that of Niagara) is the story that's unrelated to Monroe bogs down the movie. Anne Bancroft (in her first movie) is fine as is Richard Widmark as Jed, but their story is pretty much worthless. It simply pads the already short running time which could have been even shorter.
Still, if anyone's got the "on demand" Netflix option and you're looking for a quick black-and-white psychological drama (I know...everyone's looking for one of those), this one's worth putting in the queue.
The movie begins with a young Anne Bancroft sitting at a hotel bar, preparing to perform her nightclub act. While singing, her ex-boyfriend, Jed (Widmark) walks in hoping to rekindle their relationship. Jed is denied and goes up to his room at the hotel.
Now we jump to a completely unrelated storyline with a young woman named Nell (Monroe) meeting the Jones's -- a family for whom she's babysitting for this evening. As the mom and dad go downstairs to the hotel ballroom, Nell puts the young Bunny Jones to bed and begins to dance around the suite. Jed happens to see Nell from across an alleyway in between the "U-shaped" hotel and he calls her up after she flirts with him in the window. Nell invites Jed over to the room, but soon Jed (and we the audience) discover that Nell may not be sane and may, in fact, be dangerous to herself and others.
Monroe is quite good here. Sure, she still uses her squeaky voice, but she brings depth and substance to her Nell. While some of her lines are simply silly, she manages to elevate herself above the melodrama that's present in 1950s films like this.
The real problem with the film (similar to that of Niagara) is the story that's unrelated to Monroe bogs down the movie. Anne Bancroft (in her first movie) is fine as is Richard Widmark as Jed, but their story is pretty much worthless. It simply pads the already short running time which could have been even shorter.
Still, if anyone's got the "on demand" Netflix option and you're looking for a quick black-and-white psychological drama (I know...everyone's looking for one of those), this one's worth putting in the queue.
The RyMickey Rating: C
No comments:
Post a Comment