Jed phones the Joneses' room and Nell invites him to come over there. She flirtatiously teases Jed by closing and opening the Venetian blinds, thus re-encouraging his gaze. Nell has put on Ruth's black negligee, jewelry, and lipstick. When a forlorn Jed returns to his room, he sees a sexily dressed Nell across the courtyard directly opposite his room. Lyn rebuffs his advances, telling him that he has a heart that doesn't understand her true feelings and should travel to Chicago and find a new girl. He hears Lyn's familiar voice on the radio in a floor above and can't help but try to win her back in the hotel bar and lounge in between musical numbers. Jed Towers (Richard Widmark) is a restless off-duty flier who recently broke up with Lyn and can't keep his mind off her. The film cuts in between other goings-on in the hotel, including the blues performances of Tuesday Night Club songstress Lyn Lesley (21-year-old Anne Bancroft in her debut on the silver screen). The Joneses are headed downstairs for a banquet and have assigned the care of their daughter to a total stranger. Eddie has helped his niece, Nell Forbes (Marilyn Monroe), get a job babysitting Bunny Jones (Donna Corcoran), the precocious 7-year-old daughter of newspaper editor Peter Jones (Jim Backus) and his wife Ruth (Lurene Tuttle).
When her character first enters the midtown New York hotel where the whole film is set, she's a shy and submissive 30-year-old escorted to Room 807 by her uncle Eddie Forbes (Elisha Cook Jr.), a bellhop and elevator operator. Over the course of 76 minutes, the viewer appreciates how she gradually and subtly develops a delicate character who's still recovering from a mental illness. It's hard to believe that the Fox melodrama Don't Bother to Knock was already the thirteenth film Marilyn Monroe officially appeared in yet it was also her first starring role.
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