lobby, Nell steals a razor blade from a sales display. Surrounded by a mob, she holds it at her own throat. Lyn tries to calm her down. Jed appears, and, waving off police, demands Nell give him the weapon. She does, and he tries to get through her haze that he is not Philip. He assures her that she will get the help she needs by leaving with an officer. As she is led away, Lyn is taken by Jed's display of genuine empathy, and impulsively yields to a reconciliation. Cast Richard Widmark as Jed Towers Marilyn Monroe as Nell Forbes Anne Bancroft as Lyn Lesley Donna Corcoran as Bunny Jones Jeanne Cagney as Rochelle Lurene Tuttle as Ruth Jones Elisha Cook Jr. as Eddie Forbes Jim Backus as Peter Jones Verna Felton as Emma Ballew Willis Bouchey as Joe the Bartender (as Willis B. Bouchey) Don Beddoe as Mr. Ballew Reception Critical response The reviewer for the New York Post was generally pleased with the film's individual performances, but panned its plot and structure. He described Monroe as “surprisingly good”, and Widmark “terse, decisive and efficient, in veteran pilot style.” Of the work's direction, plot, and portrayals he wrote: “The picture’s suspense sequences are fairly effective both in gradual build-up and climaxes, but the conclusion, implying that all this had taken place merely to awake Widmark to his love for the singer, reduces the film to trifling proportions. The plot structure is painfully mechanical and obvious. Only characterizations and the psychotic continuities lend it temporary semblance of solidity.” The Albany Times-Union film critic was unenthusiastic: “Having whooped the undeniable physical assets of Marilyn Monroe from the rooftops, her home studio seems bent now upon telling the world that its blond property is also geared for heavy dramatic acting. The effort put forth…is something less than overwhelming, and seems oddly unnecessary. Why not just let her just be Marilyn Monroe, instead of a psychotic menace?....Miss Monroe walks through the picture as if she had been hit on the head….The action, transpiring entirely in the hotel, never gets higher than the eighth floor…..The picture has a brunette stranger, Ann Bancroft, as a nightclub songstress who jilts Widmark, takes him back the same evening. Not sensational—but neither is she psychotic.” The film's reputation has improved since its release, with many modern critics considering Monroe's performance as initially underrated. It is now considered