Who’s That Knocking at My Door (1968)

Directed by Martin Scorsese. Starring Harvey Keitel, Zina Bethune, Lennard Kuras, Michael Scala, Harry Northup. [R]

Scorsese’s feature debut is a grainy and intimate New York drama on a shoestring at the time of the “analog indie.” Italian-American street punk Keitel splits his time between knocking around with his easy-living cronies and becoming smitten with a blonde (Bethune) he meets on a ferry. Crude but urgent, shot in black & white with restless handhelds and lots of closeups. Its ungainly structure is a testament to the labors of its creation, as the two storylines were sewn together mid-production, and the superfluous erotic fantasy montage was added at the last minute to satisfy the distributor, who demanded some T&A for marketing the film in exploitation sectors. The Catholic guilt angle and Madonna-whore complex deepen an otherwise rudimentary relationship arc; some of the symbolism is heavy-handed by the director’s standards. Not quintessential Marty, but still a must for his faithful just to witness the potential in chrysalis, sort of a “student film warm-up” for Mean Streets and beyond. Debuted at the Chicago International Film Festival in 1967 under the title, I Call First.

69/100