That\u2019s an apt metaphor for how Monroe was treated by the public during her lifetime, and Don\u2019t Bother to Knock<\/em> is one of a handful of movies in which she attempted to counteract the perception of herself as a bubbly sexpot (something that remains pervasive in pop culture, right up to the discussion around the upcoming Monroe biopic Blonde<\/em>). Released 70 years ago this week, it\u2019s a surprisingly sensitive portrayal of mental illness for the time. In one of her best and most underrated performances, Monroe brings genuine sorrow to a woman who\u2019s been dismissed by the people in her life, rushed to be \u201ccured\u201d so they don\u2019t have to concern themselves with her anymore. Widmark may get top billing, but Monroe is the heart of this melancholy movie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From the opening scene, director Roy Ward Baker establishes the disconnect between private despair and outward cheer, as Lyn pours her heart out to the bartender at a New York City hotel. She tells him about the note she\u2019s written to break things off with her fickle boyfriend, a pilot who flies in periodically from Chicago for trysts at the hotel. She wants more than he can offer, so she\u2019s decided to end things, although she\u2019s clearly not happy about it. She\u2019s barely finished with her tale of woe when suddenly a spotlight shines on her. She swivels around in her barstool, picks up a microphone, and starts singing, immediately back in her stage persona as a glamorous entertainer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The story isn\u2019t really about Lyn, who\u2019s much more emotionally stable than Nell, although that\u2019s not immediately apparent. Nell makes a meek entrance into the hotel, looking for her uncle Eddie (Elisha Cook Jr.), an elevator operator. He\u2019s arranged a babysitting gig for her with a couple who are spending the evening in a downstairs ballroom at an awards ceremony. If there\u2019s something off about Nell, these busy parents don\u2019t notice it as they leave their daughter Bunny (Donna Corcoran) with Nell for a few hours. Eddie vouches for her, and that\u2019s good enough for them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Once Eddie and the parents leave, though, and Bunny is put to bed, Nell almost immediately comes unmoored. She borrows jewelry, perfume, and a negligee from the mother, putting on an image of beauty and sophistication. As she looks in the mirror to apply lipstick, the camera focuses on the jagged scars on her wrists, an ugly contrast to the fa\u00e7ade she\u2019s attempting to construct. Then Jed gets a look at her, calls her on the phone, and invites himself into a situation he\u2019s ill-equipped to handle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jed eventually comes out as the hero of the movie, but he\u2019s still full of male entitlement, only slightly more understanding of Nell\u2019s struggles than the religious parents who shipped her across the country to make her someone else\u2019s responsibility. He doesn\u2019t complain when Nell goes into a sort of fugue state and kisses him, confusing him with her dead boyfriend, who was also a pilot and perished in a plane crash over the Pacific Ocean. He\u2019s eager to ply her with liquor and let her provide the easy comfort that he no longer gets from Lyn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Nell becomes more disoriented and possibly dangerous, especially in her treatment of Bunny, Jed\u2019s initial instinct is to escape now that the fun has stopped. \u201cYou did this to yourself?\u201d he sneers contemptuously when he first spots Nell\u2019s scars. Widmark lets himself look pathetic and desperate, playing against Monroe\u2019s intense sadness. The haunted look in Monroe\u2019s eyes as Nell alternately pleads with and threatens Bunny not to ruin her night with Jed conveys just how lost and broken this woman is, latching on to the only person who\u2019s shown her a minimal amount of affection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s a happy ending of sorts, although it\u2019s happier for Jed and Lyn than it is for Nell. \u201cShe\u2019s a maniac. She may be a killer,\u201d the house detective tells the staff after he\u2019s alerted to Nell\u2019s potential to harm a child. A nosy old woman in a nearby room is positively gleeful to discover that something terrible may be going on with Nell. These people are quick to classify her as a problem rather than a person, and it takes Jed nearly the entire running time to finally recognize her humanity. By that point, it\u2019s almost too late for Nell, just as it was too late for Monroe. She remained stuck as a sex symbol, but in Don\u2019t Bother to Knock<\/em>, she shows the full range of her damaged, fragile humanity. “Don’t Bother to Knock” is available for rental or purchase via the usual platforms<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/dont-bother-to-knock2-1024x640.jpg\")
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