Sheila has posted an amazing, unparalleled review of one of Marilyn Monroe’s greatest film roles. An underrated actress at best, Monroe leaves behind a string of unforgettable performances on film.

“Don’t Bother to Knock” is a strange, unsettling little film. When it was released, it didn’t do well and people who saw Monroe weren’t impressed by the gigantic steps she was taking as an actor. The movie is at once disturbing and challenging (especially for the time) but it does tend to slip into a strange melodrama. It really didn’t need to do that. I’ve always had the feeling the director (Roy Baker) chose that so as to detour us from the real and bizarre antics of the films leading lady.

Monroe plays a psychotic babysitter on the edge of her last hurrah. There’s a magnificent performance by Richard Widmark, and a beautiful cameo by a young Anne Bancroft (her very first film role).

But it’s Monroe that rocks the rafters in this one.

Sheila writes:

“…she plays a resolutely unglamorous part. It's not made into a big deal, like, "Oooh, look at the pretty movie star being plain-ed down" ... It's appropriate for the part. She wears a simple cotton dress, low heels, a little black beret - and when she gets on the elevator for the first time and we see her from behind, her dress is a little bit wrinkled. Like it would be for any woman who had just taken a long subway ride. It's touching. Alex told me last night (she read it in some Photoplay magazine she owns. The woman is insane) that Marilyn had bought the dress herself at a five and dime for the movie. She had seen it, and known that it was Nell's dress. I love the intelligence of that, the intelligence of her choice for the character. It's perfect.”



Exactly.

It’s not that Monroe was attempting to try something different it’s that she became that woman. It wasn’t about less make up, or no extra sequins, it was about what was inside this character that drew her inward. This is the kind of performance all young actresses should be forced to study. It’s nuanced, fascinating and filled with life. She is absolutely unrecognizable.

Here’s the rest of Sheila’s brilliant tribute. This is really something and is a helluva read. Here’s a short clip from her smorgasbord: