

Don't Bother to Knock
An airline pilot pursues a live-in babysitter at his hotel and gradually realizes she is not as stable as perhaps she should be.
Critics Sentiment
Furious Nell shakes Bunny and later threatens to push her out the window
Nell threatens suicide with razor blade before Jed calms her, then reconciles with Lyn
Sharp drop from Nell's most frightening moments with Bunny (8.9) to the conventional feel-good ending with Jed and Lyn's reconciliation (5.8)
Critics overwhelmingly praised Monroe's dramatic performance as the mentally unstable Nell, with sentiment building strongly through the middle act as she convincingly portrayed psychological breakdown and violence. However, the film loses momentum in its final act with a conventional ending that reviewers found disappointing compared to the darker material preceding it.
Full cast
Showing 20 of 40
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

Don Beddoe
Mr. Ballew

Harry Bartell
Bellboy (uncredited)

Gloria Blondell
Janie - Cafe Photographer (uncredited)
John Call
Bellboy (uncredited)

Dick Cogan
Bell Captain (uncredited)
Charles J. Conrad
Speaker (uncredited)
Tom Daly
Man in Elevator (uncredited)
Elizabeth Flournoy
Undetermined Role (uncredited)

Bess Flowers
Woman at Awards Dinner (uncredited)
Charles Flynn
Uniformed Cop at End (uncredited)
Crew
Write a Review
Rate each story beat:







