Chi sta bussando alla mia porta?

A well-dressed but feckless young man (Harvey Keitel, in his acting debut) on the streets of New York meets a lovely single girl reading a foreign magazine and strikes up a conversation about movies; soon after, they begin dating, however she volunteers more about her past than he is able to handle. Striking if aimless debut from writer-director Martin Scorsese, alternately titled "I Call First", began life as a short feature from the young film student. His sexual montage, featuring Keitel and his 'broads' (and set to "The End" by the Doors), is a fabulous example of cinematic sound and fury: the perfect marriage between silvery black-and-white cinematography, kinetic editing, great music and lusty bodies. Unfortunately, Scorsese as a writer had not developed a true ear for canny dialogue, and the characters fail to emerge as a result. Still, an almost-dynamic first try, and a must-see for film historians. Keitel, marvelously youthful and muscular, is more callow than expressive, though he gives the picture its pulse; the cinematography from Richard Coll and Michael Wadley is a major asset as well. **1/2 from ****

I am an unabashed admirer of Martin Scorsese's work, and his first feature did not disappoint. Filmed on practically no budget, this movie uses a nonlinear approach to storytelling that predates "Pulp Fiction" by some 25 years. One can also see a precursor of Scorsese's later cinematic technique, and just a hint of his nightmare-world view of New York that is so apparent in his later works "Taxi Driver," "After Hours" and "Bringing Out the Dead." Scorsese's trademark—finding the perfect piece of contemporary music for each scene—is also quite apparent here.

As the traditionally-minded J.R., the young Keitel turns in a riveting performance in his first film appearance, as a working-class New Yorker torn between his cultural norms and his love for an intelligent, independent woman. Bethune is today better known as a dancer and humanitarian, but as "The Girl" she is utterly convincing and nothing short of ravishing, with a presence both ethereal and self-assuredly erotic. The meeting of the two characters is really a meeting of the traditional with the modern--something much on people's minds in 1968 when this film was made. It's interesting that in some places this movie was retitled "I Call First"—the gist of the conflict between the lovers. J.R. receives a piece of information about The Girl's past, one that he cannot put into perspective given his macho set of social norms. Scorsese throws in a dash of the Catholic morality and male-centeredness current at the time, and we have a memorable exploration of the place of culture and religion in determining who and how much we love.

If you're a Scorsese fan, this film is a must-rent. If you're uninitiated, see a couple of his later films first, then go back to this one for a look at two future giants—Scorsese and Keitel—on their first project, as well as an excellent performance by Bethune, who should certainly have had more featured roles following this one.

Filmed over years apparently, this early M. Scorsese New York tale involving young dudes being typically out of it is interesting in the scenes with Keitel and the girl (Z. Bethune), but the buddy scenes tend to drag on and semi-bore. A 5 out of 10. Best performance = Zena Bethune.

Harvey Keitel has always been interesting and believable and it's great to see him in a lead (pre-MEAN STREETS) and Ms. Bethune is very touching and human. All Scorsese fans should track this down even though it's not that great. The DVD has a semi-commentary from Marty which is unusual! It comes in the recent DVD set of Martin Scorsese and worth a look! Harry Northrup has a small role (MEAN STREETS, TAXI DRIVER).

"Who's That Knocking At My Door?" (1968) is the kind of film where you see it once you'll want to see it again, just to see what you didn't understand. The protagonist is played by Harvey Keitel as J.R., an autobiographical role based loosely on Scorsese's strict Catholic upbringing. And many symbolic Catholic references there are such as the Virgin Mary mini statue reflection in the mirror watching Harvey Keitel's JR as he embraces "The Young Girl" played by Zina Bethune.

Scorsese is so intelligent and inventive with his scenes here; crafty artsiness at its best (like the one where J.R. is having sex with the "broad" in a dream fantasy, but then afterwards flips his cards towards her rejecting her as a sin; she's not a nice virgin who would be a good wife and mother for J.R.; she's just a whore, a "broad", as we listen to The Doors' song 'The End' finish). Marty's own personal style was established in this early film.

Harvey Keitel was 29-years-old when Martin Scorsese's [who was 25] "Who's That Knocking At My Door?" debuted in 1968. This was a full-length feature debut for both actor Keitel and director Scorsese. It was interesting to see this for the first time recently after I had already seen most of Scorsese's later films. His classic trade marks such as the "freeze frame, slow-motion, and classic rock tracks playing on the soundtrack" are all utilized effectively in this early gem. ("Easy Rider" is always the film that is credited as being the originator of playing classic rock tunes on the soundtrack, but "Who's That Knocking At My Door?" wasn't seen by many until it received wide release in 1970, almost three years after it was made.)

For any film school student or aspiring director/screenwriter this is a must see. Mr. Scorsese financed this film on a tight budget. I read somewhere that his film professor from NYU helped him finance it. From the beginning somebody somewhere knew Marty had the talent and could make a good picture. He created a wonderful film; using his own life experience for the story he was able to concoct a great, interesting and personal film. His "Mean Streets" (1973) is a much greater and even more personal film. But "Who's That Knocking At My Door?" was the beginning.

I'm not Catholic but I certainly learn a lot about Catholicism when I watch a Scorsese flick. For instance, take the scene where "The Young Girl" is making dinner at J.R.'s place, she lights up what appears to be just a candle. But to J.R. it is a "Holy Candle" and makes her put it back and replace it with another one. There are many classic scenes in this film, but I don't want to spoil it for you.

Directed by Martin Scorsese. Edited By Thelma Schoonmaker (who would go on to edit almost all of Scorsese's later films). Starring Harvey Keitel as J.R. 90 minutes.

"Who's that knocking at my door" is along with "Boxcar Bertha" the most unknown picture of the Italian-American genius Scorsese. Make no mistakes: it's nothing like a masterpiece and it's no surprise that almost no one know about this movie, but here we got some of the constants in Marty's cinema: the street talking, the violence, the outsiders... Those things that "mean streets" dealt about... This was Martin Scorsese's debut and so it was for his friend Harvey Keytel who plays a chauvinist-bad tempered young man.

So, this is a movie that I recommend to those who really love Scorsese's work and wanna know about his origins.

*My rate: 6/10