Who's That Knocking at My Door

Here is Martin Scorsese's first feature film, and already, at a mere 25 years old in 1967, it is clear this young man had the determination and eye for visceral images, solid acting and a great ear for soundtracks. A rather raw and unpolished work, Who's That Knocking at My Door works in other ways such as the professionally-done editing by the great Thelma Schoonmaker, another future Scorsese collaborator. In the lead role is a very young Harvey Keitel, who plays the role of a young New York Italian very similar to the nature and style of Martin Scorsese himself. Clearly, there was a special bond between these two that continued for years.

The plot, while at times veering wildly off track, focuses on a young couple attempting to overcome a difficult instance in the past that still looms over the future. With numerous Catholic images and references, this is one of the more explicitly religious of Scorsese's work but there is still a definitive drive behind everything. It is certainly worth watching for anyone who is interested in making their own film as well as any fan of Scorsese eager to know how he got to where he is today. Not always great, sometimes very powerful, this film still remains a strong piece of work that encompasses much of future themes Scorsese would come back to: Catholic guilt, relationships between street friends and the difficulties of romance.

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? (3+ outta 5 stars)

Early feature film by the now-legendary Martin Scorsese... it sort of sprawls all over the place... melding all kinds of weird artsy gimmicks and camera styles... but the central relationship between Harvey Keitel and the pretty blonde girl he meets and falls in love with on the Staten Island Ferry (Zina Bethune) keeps the movie's momentum going, even when it veers off into interesting but sometimes pointless tangents. If you thought Quentin Tarantino invented the character of the movie geek who seeks to impress the woman of his dreams by rambling on with movie trivia... well, this movie will set you straight. You will also see hints of Scorsese's later masterpieces ("Mean Streets", "Goodfellas") in embryonic form. I hadn't seen this movie in years... but just saw the new DVD version and was amazed at how good it was.

"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