Back to trending
Don't Bother to Knock

Don't Bother to Knock

Drama · Thriller · 1952

An airline pilot pursues a live-in babysitter at his hotel and gradually realizes she is not as stable as perhaps she should be.

Movie details

Don't Bother to Knock

“… a wicked sensation as the lonely girl in room 809!”

1952 Drama · Thriller 1h 16m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.6 / 10

Community rating

An airline pilot pursues a live-in babysitter at his hotel and gradually realizes she is not as stable as perhaps she should be.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Don't Bother to Knock?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Mad City

Mad City

Thriller · 1997

A misguided museum guard who loses his job and then tries to get it back at gunpoint is thrown into the fierce world of ratings-driven TV gone mad.

Bridge of Spies

Bridge of Spies

Thriller · 2015

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union captures U.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers after shooting down his U-2 spy plane. Sentenced to 10 years in prison, Powers' only hope is New York lawyer James Donovan, recruited by a CIA operative to negotiate his release. Donovan boards a plane to Berlin, hoping to win the young man's freedom through a prisoner exchange. If all goes well, the Russians would get Rudolf Abel, the convicted spy who Donovan defended in court.

The Rainmaker

The Rainmaker

Drama · 1997

Fresh out of law school and desperate for work, idealistic rookie Rudy Baylor takes on a powerful insurance company accused of denying a dying boy’s claim. Teaming up with a scrappy, unlicensed paralegal, he finds himself in a David-versus-Goliath courtroom battle that tests his ethics, courage, and belief in justice.

Remember

Remember

Drama · 2015

With the aid of a fellow Auschwitz survivor and a hand-written letter, an elderly man with dementia goes in search of the person responsible for the death of his family.

The Pelican Brief

The Pelican Brief

Thriller · 1993

A law student's theory about the recent deaths of two Supreme Court justices embroils her in a far-reaching web of murder, corruption, and greed.

The Million Dollar Hotel

The Million Dollar Hotel

Drama · 2000

A federal agent searches for a potential killer among the bizarre residents of a dilapidated Los Angeles hotel.

An Inspector Calls

An Inspector Calls

Drama · 2015

Northern England, 1912. The dinner of a wealthy family is interrupted by Inspector Goole, who only announces that a young woman has committed suicide. Then, he simply asks everyone present, one by one, if they knew her.

Evil Under the Sun

Evil Under the Sun

Thriller · 1982

An opulent beach resort provides a scenic background to this amusing whodunit as Poirot attempts to uncover the nefarious evildoer behind the strangling of a notorious stage star.

Witness for the Prosecution

Witness for the Prosecution

Drama · 1957

An ailing barrister is thrust back into the courtroom in what becomes one of the most unusual and eventful murder cases of the lawyer's career when he finds himself defending a man being tried for the murder of a socialite.

Sleuth

Sleuth

Drama · 2007

Locked in a high-tech English manor, bound in a deadly duel of wits, Andrew Wyke and Milo Tindle come together as English gentlemen to discuss the matter of Wyke's wife: the woman both are sleeping with.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Roy Ward Baker

Written by

Daniel Taradash

Richard Widmark

Richard Widmark

Jed Towers

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Nell Forbes

Anne Bancroft

Anne Bancroft

Lyn Lesley

Donna Corcoran

Donna Corcoran

Bunny Jones

Jeanne Cagney

Jeanne Cagney

Rochelle

Lurene Tuttle

Lurene Tuttle

Ruth Jones

Elisha Cook Jr.

Elisha Cook Jr.

Eddie Forbes

Court is in session

Put Don't Bother to Knock on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.