John Wayne fan J.R. (Harvey Keitel) and his friends are local Italian petty ruffians on the streets of New York. He meets and gets engaged to a girl. When she tells him about being raped, he is disbelieving, angry, and heartbroken. With his religious conviction, he can't marry a non-virgin and returns to his old thug life.The actors are all amateurs. This is Martin Scorsese's feature debut. It's a black and white indie. Harvey Keitel is still a student actor. Despite that, one can see the inherit skills of these guys. Scorsese is trying various camera moves. He's an artist playing with his paint. There is a real unpredictable sense of violence and there is his music sense. It's not polished by any means but one can see Scorsese trying something in almost every scene. There are scenes that ramble on but those have a visceral sense of uncertainty. The technical aspect varies and it can feel disjointed especially the dream sequences. The sexual dream comes out of nowhere which doesn't fit the rest of the movie. There is the ambient noise which may be deliberate but probably the byproduct of guerrilla student filmmaking. Keitel is exuding energy as the lead. He's the focus even at such a young age. I do wonder why the female lead has no name. To be fair, most characters do not have names. One would expect JR call her by her name at least once. Is it a continuing Scorsese limitation with female characters? I can only call up one strong female lead in his writing. There are a few more in his other works. It's probably a limitation of simply being a dude. It's hard to write what one doesn't know. Overall, this is a crystal ball that predicts Scorsese's rise as one of the great American directors.

'Who's That Knocking at My Door' (sometimes known as 'I Call First') - this gritty drama filmed on the streets of New York marked both Harvey Keitel's acting debut and Martin Scorsese's directing debut. Neither one disappoints and Scorsese experiments with an extensive array of filmic techniques, from lethargic dissolves to high camera angles that look down on the characters, all of which makes the film feel very much alive. Especially effective are some shots that voyeuristically track and pan between Keitel and co-star Zina Bethune as he chats her up. The film is far less enticing in the story department though. The basic premise is decent, with Keitel having to overcome some religion-based prejudices regarding the purity and innocence that he expects of Bethune, however, the movie was originally expanded from a short film and it very much shows with precious little else narrative-wise other than overload of scenes of Keitel associating with his friends. Keitel does have quite a curious character though, even if his character is not given the strongest story to work with. He seems unable to talk about anything but western movies with his girlfriend and many of his views on life (whether a woman is a 'girl' or a 'broad') seem dictated by western tropes. There is also a fascinating bit in which still photographs are inserted to show how he imagines himself as a western movie hero, shooting kitchen glasses. Without doubt, there is quite a bit going on in the film, which makes it one of the more interesting directing debuts out there, if not the most satisfying one by far.

was so intrigued to see one of my fav directors first foray into the media... OK perhaps one turns the sound off, it more closely resembles an artsy home movie... BUT the themes, conflicts, dialogue, anguish, and dilemmas definitely compensate with this overwhelmingly emotional experience... and the MUSIC! had no idea Marty started with that quintessential element so early, and being disappointed because his g/f has no clue about Percy! priceless.... related well to the experience with the b/f rage and the helplessness of being raped, still exists to this day unfortunately... seeing the game of SHOOT being played brought back a lot of memories... so many of the characterizations of Roman Catholic Italian American homelife was well captured... Marty your Mom was absolutely beautiful and am delighted that you have continued to include her in your films, adorable! was most shocked to see such a young Harvey in a sensual role, and the splurge on the revealing dream sequence with that level of passion in a first major film role was jaw dropping... apologies but really quite enjoyed that and guess that makes me a bad girl? lol kudos my dear for your level of entertainment throughout my life... xx oo

Released under many different titles, "Who's That Knocking at My Door" is an energetic, if muddled directorial debut from the great Martin Scorsese.Like George Lucas' "American Graffiti," the autobiographical elements were ripped from the young director's life growing up in the tenements of New York's Little Italy. However, the only difference between the two movies is completely different styles of filmmaking. While Lucas' film is a nostalgic, colorful look into the lives of high school graduates, "Who's That Knocking" is the polar opposite with its grainy, black-and-white photography and free-wheeling direction.In his film debut, Harvey Keitel's working class J.R. is the archetypal Scorsese protagonist. Concepts of machismo, religious guilt and unable to conform in regular society would be the future characteristics that would pop up in his later films. Keitel's sudden encounter with a high-class, educated woman (Zina Bethune) puts his character in a life-changing dilemma. Will he continue to hang out with his neighborhood buddies? Or will he develop a long-term relationship with the statuesque blonde? Filmed over a period of several years, the making of "Who's That Knocking" is kind of an interesting story all its own. Working from student films to a legitimate feature film is such a daunting task for the young Scorsese. You've got to remember "Easy Rider" wasn't released yet and the New Hollywood revolution was just around the corner. After the film's world premiere, Scorsese was able to find a distributor on one condition that a sex scene be added as a selling point. This wasn't just some ordinary sex scene, but it is a hell of a scene to watch.Shot on location in Amsterdam with a noticeably older Keitel, Scorsese and long-time editor Thelma Schoonmaker were able to create a technically beautiful montage set to The Doors' epic song "The End." While watching this scene progress before my eyes, I am so glad that Scorsese agreed to do the sex scene because it blends with the film so well."Who's That Knocking at My Door" is not a well-polished debut film, but there's more to come from Uncle Marty.