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Summary: Norma Jean fans, read BLONDE
Review: I don't often see books recommended as a companion to a movie, but in this case, I strongly believe Blonde, by Joyce Carol Oates, is essential to understanding Norma Jean Baker's transformation to "Marilyn Monroe." Sure, it is a semi-fictional rendering of Baker/Monroe, but it is as spine-tingling a portrait of a cultural icon as one will ever read. (Like the scene in producer Z's office which leads directly to her landing her first major film, "The Asphalt Jungle." I hope that what happened to her is NOT true.) And Oates' analysis of Monroe's acting is dead on. Wish she would do commentary on DVD! (Don Delillo's novel Libra captures Lee Harvey Oswald in a similar vein.)
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Summary: Speaking My Language
Review: I'm not really a big fan of baby sitter movies, but I wouldn't mind the young Marilyn baby sitting me, if you know what I mean. People say she acts great in this movie, playing a loopy suicidal chick, but in her case, this turned out to be too close to the truth. I'm a 1940s and 50s sort of guy, so I feel right at home in this movie. From the match girl to the seen-it-all bartender, these are my people and they speak my language.
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Summary: 5 stars for Marilyn!!
Review: Marilyn is so amazing in her role of Nell, the psychotic babysitter, who is hired for one night to babysit an 8 year old girl. Her uncle is the elevator jockey, and he gets her the job. She has just moved to NYC after being released from an institution. She attempted suicide after her lover is killed in WWII. At the hotel, she meets Jed, played excellently by Richard Widmark. I think him and Monroe had a great chemistry together. Jed doesn't have a very understand heart at first, but by the end of the night he is a changed man. They meet looking across into each other's hotel rooms and decide to chat in her room. The little girl, Bunny, is bothered by him being there and makes problems for Nell. Nell does everything she can to keep the girl away. She even almost kills her! MM mesmerizes me everytime I watch any scene from this film. She is very expressive, and she just delivers an awesome performance. I think she should have stuck to dramatic roles.
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Summary: Unusual Marilyn Monroe movie
Review: Marilyn Monroe does a good job portraying a mentally disturbed woman babysitting a little girl in a hotel. The rest of the cast is fine too. The script is a bit clumsy at times, but it doesn't take away from the enjoyment of the movie. If you've only seen Marilyn portray empty-headed blondes, you should watch "Don't Bother to Knock" to get a different look at her. Her character "Nell" is a sad, pathetic figure.
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Summary: chilling drama
Review: Marilyn Monroe proves she really could act in this film, a chilling psychological thriller set in a luxury hotel. Also starring Richard Widmark and Anne Bancroft, DON'T BOTHER TO KNOCK is a fascinating film.Monroe plays a psychotic babysitter assigned to look after a little girl in a big hotel. Her past is cloudy and she seems shy and withdrawn. Also in the hotel in a lounge singer (Anne Bancroft) and her old flame (Widmark). The young man finds his way to the babysitter's room, and she passes herself off as the occupant, wearing a fancy robe and diamond earrings "borrowed" from the girl's mother. He takes a liking to her, but when he discovers her dangling the girl from a window, he decides to call the police....... Monroe gives an emotionally vulnerable performance here. She is remarkably good, which makes me wonder why studios only gave her "cheesecake movies" instead of the roles and movies she knew she could do. Top shelf entertainment.
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Summary: matlin review is unfair to this movie
Review: matlin's review isn't right for once : although i agree this movie is no masterpiece, marilyn's performance is one masterpiece in itself. I'm not particulary a "fan" but she is absolutely moving in this part, and besides this movie is part of her legacy; it's worth being seen.
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Summary: MARILYN'S GREATEST ACTING & A GREAT FILM
Review: This film was mesmerizing to watch. Richard Widmark was great, as always, but Marilyn's acting was the greatest in the film. She plays a deranged babysitter and when Richard Widmark's character, Jed, goes to her hotel room to catch a little hay-hay with her, he has no idea what/who he is getting himself involved with. The plot unfolds from there and it's a nail biter all the way. The background music is really cool, giving it a film noir touch.
Rating:
Summary: MARILYN'S GREATEST ACTING & A GREAT FILM
Review: This film was mesmerizing to watch. Richard Widmark was great, as always, but Marilyn's acting was the greatest in the film. She plays a deranged babysitter and when Richard Widmark's character, Jed, goes to her hotel room to catch a little hay-hay with her, he has no idea what/who he is getting himself involved with. The plot unfolds from there and it's a nail biter all the way. The background music is really cool, giving it a film noir touch.
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Summary: Dramatic Monroe
Review: This is a deep drama about a babysitter who has been insane since losing her lover in the war.
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Summary: Marilyn at her rare best
Review: This is perhaps Marilyn's best on screen performance (it also happens to be my personal favorite). Staring as Nell Forbes, a lovesick, and slightly unstable young woman who lands a babysitting job at a live in hotel, this is her first staring vehicle. Richard Widmark also stars as the object of her imagination, who's been recently dumped by his girlfriend Lyn Leslie (a lounge singer played by an incredibly young looking Anne Bancroft). Things began to get interesting as the rejected Widmark happens to notice Marilyn dancing in the hotel room across the way, directly in front of his. After a brief phone flirtation, the two decide to meet. Initially keeping the fact that she was there babysitting to herself she begins making headway, but when her advances are inconveniently interrupted by the girl she's babysitting, she begins to think the whole world has it there mind to keep them apart. She begins to believe that Widmark's character is the man she lost in 1946 over the pacific (he also happened to be a pilot, which he mentioned to her). Seeming to be to be shaken by all of Marilyn's variations, he realizes he still has feelings for his girlfriend, and it becomes a race to catch her before she is relieved at ten o'clock by another performer. Marilyn however had other ideas, and begins doing everything she can to keep him with her. She grows increasingly frustrated when she is constantly interrupted by the young girl, and her cousin Eddie (Elisha Cook Jr....is it me or does he look like a shorter, stockier version of George W. Bush) Ultimately she loses control of herself, completely breaking with reality. Many people believe that Marilyn used her past experiences to draw on, when bringing this character to the screen. Usually playing bubbly blondes in much lighter pictures, this is a rare look at the other more visceral and emotional side of Marilyn. When watching this film you'll realize that Marilyn was much more dynamic than most people realized then, or even now.
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