Who’s That Knocking at My Door—I Call First (1967)

Directed by: Martin Scorsese | 86 minutes | drama | Actors: Zina Bethune, Harvey Keitel, Anne Collette, Lennard Kuras, Michael Scala, Harry Northup, Tsuai Yu-Lan, Saskia Holleman, Bill Minkin, Philip Carlson, Wendy Russell, Robert Uricola, Susan Wood, Marissa Mathes, Catherine Scorsese, Victor Magnotta, Paul DeBonde

Finally, in 2007, there was that long-awaited Oscar for Martin Scorsese, for ‘The Departed’ (2006). The filmmaker, who has been making his mark on American cinema since the late 1960s, should of course have received such a statue much earlier. For his masterpieces ‘Taxi Driver’ (1975) or ‘Raging Bull’ (1980) for example. The director himself could hardly believe it himself and joked: “Could you double-check the envelope…?” Scorsese found his (thematic) inspiration in his early years in the western ‘The Searchers’ (1956), a film that he watched countless times to get ideas. ‘Taxi Driver’ (1975) is perhaps his most concrete homage to John Ford’s classic western – essentially it’s a grim, metropolitan remake of it – but his fascination is also apparent in his very first steps in the business. In his debut film ‘Who’s That Knocking at My Door’ (1967), for example, reference is even made literally to ‘The Searchers’, when the two main characters watch the film together and discuss it.

‘Who’s That Knocking at My Door’, also known as ‘I Call First’, is the film with which Martin Scorsese knocked loudly at the door of the established order in the film world. This was the film with which he graduated from the Film Academy. In fact, the print consists of snippets of film that he shot during his studies, supplemented by a feature film that lasts less than an hour and a half about a group of young people in New York’s Little Italy neighborhood. The lead role is for a young Harvey Keitel. He plays JR, an unemployed boy with his heart in the right place, but who is wedged between his strict Catholic background and the local mafia, from which he prefers to stay far away. He hangs out with his mates Joey (Lennard Kuras) and Sally (Michael Scala). When JR meets a beautiful and worldly college student (Zina Bethune) on the ferry to Staten Island, his life is turned upside down. This girl – she remains unnamed – is well-read, intelligent and has been in relationships before, unlike JR, who is also intelligent but in a streetwise way. When he finds out that the love of his life is no longer a virgin, his world collapses. Given his Catholic background, this is a great shame and it is very difficult for him to deal with it.

‘There are girls, and then there are broads’. A typical statement from JR, the main character in ‘Who’s That Knocking at My Door’. Sexist perhaps, but above all an attitude that stands for his fear that as a man he will lose his (sexual) power to the woman. It is a theme that appears more often in Scorsese’s work. The same goes for the strict Catholic background in which the director grew up. The young Scorsese once had plans to become a priest, but in the end the medium of film turned out to be an even better way to vent his passion for the faith. Not so surprising that in each of his films, and therefore also in this debut, faith plays a role in the background (and in the case of ‘The Last Temptation of Christ’ from 1988 even very explicitly). ‘Who’s That Knocking at My Door’ offers a lively and realistic glimpse into the lives of ordinary boys in 1960s Little Italy. Leading American film critic Roger Ebert was blown away by the film, calling Scorsese’s debut “a great moment for American cinema.”

From a stylistic point of view, the director already shows quite a few of his possibilities. Most notable examples are the fight scene in which he plays with slow-motion footage and a sex scene in which music (in this case ‘The End’ by The Doors) is used very effectively. An interesting harbinger of what we would see from this filmmaker later on. Overall, though, ‘Who’s That Knocking at My Door’ is just a messy and disjointed film. It is clear to see that the scenes were shot at different times, for example due to the sometimes poor editing and lighting. In addition, there hardly seems to be a scenario present, so that as a viewer you lack something to hold on to. The only thing that is clear is that this is a coming-of-age movie. It’s as if some beautiful images were shot at random that were later put together. A kind of style exercise, in which there is little coherence to be found. The convincing play of Scorsese’s fellow student Harvey Keitel and the other actors does not detract from this.

‘Who’s That Knocking at My Door’ gives a good picture of Martin Scorsese’s development as a filmmaker. The visual delights and certain recognizable themes were there early on and would only be further deepened and perfected by Scorsese in his later work. It is for that reason extremely fascinating for every lover of the work of the New Yorker to see this debut. That doesn’t make ‘Who’s That Knocking at My Door’ a good film, however. There is no sound scenario and any coherence in the images shown for this. But with a graduation film like this, it’s no wonder Scorsese passed with flying colors!