Who’s That Knocking At My Door (1967)

Who’s That Knocking At My Door (1967)

“You know: there are girls, and then there are broads!”

Synopsis:
When an Italian-American named J.R. (Harvey Keitel) learns that his new girlfriend (Zina Bethune) was violently assaulted by a former boyfriend, he is unsure how to respond.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • Feminism and Women’s Issues
  • Harvey Keitel Films
  • Martin Scorsese Films

Review:
Martin Scorsese’s debut film has a bit of a complicated origin story, which bears mentioning right away. According to IMDb trivia:

Originally, the movie was conceived as a short film about J.R. and his friends, titled “Bring on the Dancing Girls”, and filmed in 1965. In 1967, the romance plot with the Girl was filmed, and added to the earlier short film with the title “I Call First”. This version was the one premiered at the Chicago Film Festival, in November 1967. In 1968, exploitation distributor Joseph Brenner offered to buy and distribute the movie, with the condition to add a sex scene, which was shot by Martin Scorsese in Amsterdam. The film, with that new scene, was premiered in September 1968, with the title “Who’s That Knocking at My Door”, and is the version of the movie as we know it today.

Despite its cobbled together nature, every scene of the film was storyboarded, thus showcasing Scorsese’s nascent cinematic voice: he uses techniques such as double-exposure, extreme close-ups, unusual angles, flashbacks, slow motion, an eclectic soundtrack, and freeze frames.


Indeed, Scorsese’s clear love (obsession) for film shows through in some portions of the semi-awkward screenplay, including when Keitel and Bethune “meet cute” over a French magazine and he grills her on whether she’s seen The Searchers or not.

Other instances are less direct, but will still be obvious to cinema fans — such as the rooftop scene when the couple discusses pigeons (hearkening, of course, to On the Waterfront, which similarly features a tentative romance between an Italian-American New Yorker and a lithe blonde).

Scorsese’s trademark machismo and violence are in full evidence — such as during a scene when J.R.’s friend forces him out of the car (then lets him back him), and a slo-mo sequence involving a gun being waved around at a party.

Although she’s not given much dimensionality, we like Bethune’s character enough that it’s distressing to see how she’s treated after sharing her dark story; but to Scorsese’s credit, he doesn’t shy away from depicting exactly how such a scenario may have gone down in such a deeply (toxically) Catholic culture. While this film isn’t pleasant — and its amateur status is clear — it will probably be of interest to Scorsese fans.

Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:

  • Harvey Keitel as J.R.
  • Zita Bethune as the Girl
  • Effective cinéma vérité cinematography, location shooting, and editing

Must See?
No, though of course diehard Scorsese fans will for sure want to check it out. Listed as a Cult Movie in the back of Peary’s book.

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One thought on “Who’s That Knocking At My Door (1967)

  1. Rewatch (5/12/22). [Strangely, I wrote little about this rewatch – just:] What makes this a once-must is the last 20 minutes, in which Keitel and Bethune have a ‘showdown’ over his inability to not be sexist. Keitel’s character refers to himself as “a reasonable guy” while proving misogyny among Italian men.

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