Don't Bother to Knock

Don't Bother to Knock
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRoy Ward Baker
Screenplay byDaniel Taradash
Based onMischief
1951 novel
by Charlotte Armstrong
Produced byJulian Blaustein
StarringRichard Widmark
Marilyn Monroe
CinematographyLucien Ballard
Edited byGeorge A. Gittens
Music byLionel Newman
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • July 18, 1952 (1952-07-18) (United States)
Running time
76 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1.5 million (US rentals)[1]

Don't Bother to Knock is a 1952 American psychological thriller starring Richard Widmark and Marilyn Monroe and directed by Roy Ward Baker. The screenplay was written by Daniel Taradash, based on the 1951 novel Mischief by Charlotte Armstrong. Monroe is featured as a disturbed babysitter watching a child at the same New York hotel where a pilot, played by Widmark, is staying. He starts flirting with her, but over the evening her strange behavior makes him increasingly aware that she is unhinged. How he copes with the situation ends up profoundly impacting all three lives.

  1. ^ "Top Grossers of 1952". Variety. Vol. 189. January 7, 1953. p. 61. Retrieved February 15, 2021.