Don’t Bother to Knock

Appearing a year before Monroe’s elevation to superstardom was sealed with the release of Niagara, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire, this claustrophobic, psychological noir was Monroe’s 13th credited film but her first headline role (Richard Widmark shares top billing). Underappreciated on release, Monroe’s performance exhibits an anxiety and emotional fragility that defines the darker side of her own meteoric rise. Now considered a key role, it suggests what she may have gone on to achieve had her career not been tragically cut short a decade later. With Anne Bancroft and Elisha Cook Jr.