Don't Bother to Knock (Marilyn Monroe)

Show & Culture

Wealthy guests at a large hotel, having gone out for the evening, leave their daughter in the care of Nell, a babysitter. However, the young woman quickly appears to be psychologically unstable. This is discovered by a neighboring guest, who is initially drawn to her beauty and mystery… "In a rare dramatic role early in her career, Monroe explores the psychology of a woman whose innocence, trauma, and desirability foreshadow her own myth and public persona." (MoMA) "Monroe, appearing here just before she became typecast as a gold-plated sex object, is frighteningly real as the confused babysitter, and the deglamorized setting is no less persuasive." (Chicago Reader)