Lyn Lesley is the lounge singer at New York City's McKinley Hotel. She muses to the bartender about her relationship with an airline pilot, Jed Towers, revealing she had ended their six-month relationship with a letter. Checking in at the hotel, Jed approaches her; Lyn explains that she sees no future with him, perceiving his coldness to people as his lacking "an understanding heart".
Meanwhile, elevator operator Eddie introduces his reticent niece, Nell Forbes, to guests Peter and Ruth Jones as a babysitter for their daughter Bunny. The Joneses leave for a banquet downstairs. After putting the child to bed, Nell tries on Ruth's negligee, then her jewelry, perfume, and lipstick. Seeing Nell from his room directly across an airshaft, Jed calls her on the house phone, but she rebuffs his advances. When Eddie checks up on her, he is appalled to find Nell wearing Ruth's apparel and orders her to take them off. He encourages that she can have such indulgences by finding a boyfriend to replace the one she lost, a pilot killed in an aircraft accident. After Eddie leaves, Nell puts Ruth's attire back on and invites Jed over.
Nell lies to Jed, painting herself as a wealthy globetrotter. Startled when he reveals that he is a pilot, Nell confides that her boyfriend, Philip, died while flying a bomber in World War II. The precocious Bunny appears and shatters Nell's charade. Furious, Nell shakes the child and orders her back to bed. Hearing Bunny's sobs, Jed comforts her, letting her stay up with them. When Bunny leans out an open window next to Nell, the troubled woman fights the urge to push the child out. Seeing Nell's attitude, Jed snatches Bunny away, but the incident is witnessed by longtime hotel resident (and notorious busybody) Emma Ballew. Out of Jed's earshot, Nell threatens Bunny, putting her back to bed. Jarred by events and Nell's behavior, Jed's thoughts return to Lyn, and he begins to leave. Nell begs him not to go. As he is fending off a kiss from her, Jed sees scars on her wrists. Nell confesses that after her boyfriend Philip died, she tried to kill herself with a razor.
Monroe as Nell
When Eddie checks up on Nell after his shift is over, Nell wrangles a reluctant Jed into concealing himself in the bathroom. Irate that Nell is still wearing Ruth's apparel, Eddie orders her to change clothes, then harshly rubs off her lipstick. This enrages Nell, who accuses Eddie of being just like her repressive parents. When Eddie suspects there is someone in the bathroom, Nell hits him over the head with a heavy ashtray. While an alarmed Jed tends to Eddie, Nell slips into Bunny's room.
Emma Ballew knocks on the door, accompanied by her reluctant husband. Fearing for his job, Eddie urges Jed to hide while Eddie slips into the closet. Jed sneaks into Bunny's room, not noticing, in the dark, that the child is now bound and gagged; he slips out a door to the hallway, but the Ballews see him and assume he was an intruder in Nell's room. They alert the hotel detective, and a chase ensues. Increasingly delusional, Nell now believes Jed is Philip. Locking Eddie in, she again goes into Bunny's room.
At the bar, Jed tells Lyn about Nell. She is pleasantly surprised by his concern. Suddenly realizing that he saw Bunny in the wrong bed, Jed rushes back up. Ruth arrives first and screams when she enters Bunny's room. The two women grapple. Jed pulls Nell away and unties Bunny. Nell slips away in the confusion when the detective arrives. Eddie explains that Nell spent the previous three years in an Oregon mental institution following her suicide attempt, but she was deemed to have been cured. In the lobby, Nell steals a razor blade from a sales display. Surrounded by a mob, she holds it at her own throat. Recognizing Nell by Jed's description, Lyn tries to calm her down. Jed appears and persuades Nell to give the razor to him, and she is taken into custody. Impressed by Jed's empathy, Lyn agrees to a reconciliation.
The reviewer for the New York Post was generally pleased with the film's individual performances, but panned its plot and structure. He described Monroe as “surprisingly good”, and Widmark “terse, decisive and efficient, in veteran pilot style.” Of the work's direction, plot, and portrayals he wrote: “The picture’s suspense sequences are fairly effective both in gradual build-up and climaxes, but the conclusion, implying that all this had taken place merely to awake Widmark to his love for the singer, reduces the film to trifling proportions. The plot structure is painfully mechanical and obvious. Only characterizations and the psychotic continuities lend it temporary semblance of solidity.”[2]
The Albany Times-Union film critic was unenthusiastic: “Having whooped the undeniable physical assets of Marilyn Monroe from the rooftops, her home studio seems bent now upon telling the world that its blond property is also geared for heavy dramatic acting. The effort put forth…is something less than overwhelming, and seems oddly unnecessary. Why not just let her just be Marilyn Monroe, instead of a psychotic menace?....Miss Monroe walks through the picture as if she had been hit on the head….The action, transpiring entirely in the hotel, never gets higher than the eighth floor…..The picture has a brunette stranger, Ann Bancroft, as a nightclub songstress who jilts Widmark, takes him back the same evening. Not sensational—but neither is she psychotic.”[3]
The film's reputation has improved since its release, with many modern critics considering Monroe's performance as initially underrated. It is now considered by Monroe fans to contain some of her best acting.[4] Film critic Dennis Schwartz gave the film a mostly positive 2011 review, and seems to be captured by Monroe's performance. He wrote, "Wacko psychological thriller, set entirely in a NYC hotel, and helmed without urgency by Roy Ward Baker (The Vault of Horror/Asylum/Scars of Dracula). It lacks emotional depth, but is diverting as it gives off nervous energy and remains watchable throughout. Marilyn Monroe was in 12 previous films, but this was her first co-starring headliner role. Playing someone mentally deranged, Marilyn wonderfully channels how her mentally troubled mom acted and gives a believable performance (she's the best reason for seeing this forgettable pic). It's based on a novel by Charlotte Armstrong and is written by Daniel Taradash."[5]
↑Winston, Archer. “Archer Winsten’s Reviewing Stand: ’Don’t Bother to Knock’ at Globe.” New York Post, 20 July 1952.
↑Roseberry, C.R. “Heavy Dramatic Acting Not for Marilyn Monroe: Star of ‘Don’t Bother to Knock’ Seemingly Not Overwhelming.” Albany (NY) Times-Union, 21 August 1952.
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