X
  • 1968
  • R
  • Joseph Brenner Associates (JBA)
  • 1 h 30 m
  • 1968
  • R
  • Joseph Brenner Associates (JBA)
  • 1 h 30 m
Who's That Knocking at My Door?

Summary J.R. (Harvey Keitel) is a typical Italian-American on the streets of New York. When he falls for a girl (Zina Bethune), he decides to get married and settle down, but when he learns that she was once raped, he cannot handle it. More explicitly linked with Catholic guilt than Scorsese's later work, we see what happens to J.R. when his rel...

Directed By: Martin Scorsese

Written By: Betzi Manoogian, Martin Scorsese

  • 1968
  • R
  • Joseph Brenner Associates (JBA)
  • 1 h 30 m
  • 1968
  • R
  • Joseph Brenner Associates (JBA)
  • 1 h 30 m

Who's That Knocking at My Door?

Metascore Generally Favorable Based on 9 Critic Reviews
63
User Score Generally Favorable Based on 15 User Ratings
6.8
My Score
Hover and click to give a rating Saved

Summary J.R. (Harvey Keitel) is a typical Italian-American on the streets of New York. When he falls for a girl (Zina Bethune), he decides to get married and settle down, but when he learns that she was once raped, he cannot handle it. More explicitly linked with Catholic guilt than Scorsese's later work, we see what happens to J.R. when his rel...

Directed By: Martin Scorsese

Written By: Betzi Manoogian, Martin Scorsese

Top Cast

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 9 Critic Reviews
63
44% Positive
4 Reviews
56% Mixed
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 9 Critic Reviews
63
44% Positive
4 Reviews
56% Mixed
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
88
To be sure, Scorsese was occasionally too obvious, and the film has serious structural flaws, but nobody who loves movies believes a perfect one will ever be made. What we hope for instead are small gains on the fronts of hope, love, comedy and tragedy. It is possible that with more experience and maturity Scorsese will direct more polished, finished films--but this work, completed when he was 25, contains a frankness he may have diluted by then.
By Roger Ebert FULL REVIEW
88
I have no reservations in describing it as a great moment in American movies.
By Roger Ebert FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

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User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 15 User Ratings
6.8
67% Positive
10 Ratings
27% Mixed
4 Ratings
7% Negative
1 Rating

User Reviews

 View All
User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 15 User Ratings
6.8
67% Positive
10 Ratings
27% Mixed
4 Ratings
7% Negative
1 Rating

There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.

70
In the aggressive self-confidence, the use of rock music, and the perceptive observation, Scorsese reveals an anthropological feel for street life and the attitudes of male adolescence, particularly how introversion and weakness are reserved for moments with the opposite sex, kept carefully apart from the mainstream of life.
FULL REVIEW
60
This is the ultimate student film.... The film is a creative, ultra-low-budget effort with a good sense of place and character. Scorsese presents a detailed look at the lives of these confused boys struggling to become men in an oppressive environment.
FULL REVIEW
50
Martin Scorsese's first feature (1968), set in New York's Little Italy and starring Harvey Keitel in his first role, can be read as a rather rough draft of Mean Streets, down to the use of rock music and Catholic guilt.
By Jonathan Rosenbaum FULL REVIEW
50
The director, who also wrote the original story and screenplay, hasn't succeeded in making a drama that is really much more aware than the characters themselves. The result is a movie that is as precise—and as small—as a contact print.
By Vincent Canby FULL REVIEW
40
Zina Bethune, as the girl, is believable but Harvey Keitel, as the anti-hero, is alternatively boorish or bewildered. Scorsese occasionally brings the film to life.... Generally, however, his script and direction lack any dramatic value and give far too much exposure to sexual fantasies on the part of the boy.
FULL REVIEW
See All 9 Critic Reviews

Details

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Production Company New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, Tisch School of the Arts (NYU), Trimod Films
Release Date Sep 8, 1968
Duration 1 h 30 m
Rating R
Genres
Tagline Mean Streets was just around the corner.
Website https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B000NHUQ2C/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r
View All Details

Awards

Chicago International Film Festival
• 1 Nomination

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