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Who's That Knocking at My Door

  • 1967
  • 1 h 26 min
  • United States

Overview

J.R. is a typical Catholic Italian-American young man on the streets of New York City. Even as an adult, he stays close to home with a core group of friends with whom he drinks and parties. He gets involved with a local girl he meets on the Staten Island Ferry, and decides he wants to get married and settle down. As their relationship deepens, he declines her offer to have sex because he thinks she is a virgin and he wants to wait rather than "spoil" her. One day, his girlfriend tells him that she was once raped by a former boyfriend. This crushes J.R., and he rejects her and attempts to return to his old life of drinking with his friends. However, after a particularly wild party with friends, he realizes he still loves her and returns to her apartment one early morning. He awkwardly tells her that he forgives her and says that he will "marry her anyway." Upon hearing this, the girl tells him marriage would never work if her past weighs on him so much. J.R. becomes enraged and calls her a whore, but quickly recants and says he is confused by the whole situation. She tells him to go home, and he returns to the Catholic church, but finds no solace.

Runtime
1 h 26 min
Released
1967-11-15, Worldwide
Countries
United States
Original language
English

Release history

  1. Worldwide
  2. United States

Cast and crew

9See all credits

Videos and photos

Photos

Production and reception

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Production

The first draft of the film was under the title Bring on the Dancing Girls. Scorsese shot footage in Little Italy of J.R. and his friends participating in "fights, drinking sessions, orgies", but Scorsese stated that it was "a disaster and everybody hated it". Haig P. Manoogian, his former professor, told him to write new scenes featuring the girl and expand upon J.R. inner conflict. Who's That Knocking at My Door was filmed in New York City over the course of two years, undergoing many changes, new directions and different names along the way.

Reception

American critic Roger Ebert gave the film an extremely positive review after its world premiere at the Chicago International Film Festival in November 1967 (when it still went by the name I Call First). He called the film "a work that is absolutely genuine, artistically satisfying and technically comparable to the best films being made anywhere. I have no reservations in describing it as a great moment in American movies." Variety described the film as "more of a class exercise than a commercially sound film".

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