I recently read the book "Scorsese by Ebert", in which the great critic examines the body of work of the great director through reviews, interviews, new conversations, and so forth. One of the more interesting bits in the book was the topic of Scorsese's first film, "Who's That Knocking At My Door?", which I had picked up a few months ago at a used DVD place but had not actually watched. So, inspired by Ebert's view and by Scorsese's own thoughts, I sat down to view this movie as a curiosity piece at the very least.<br /><br />I must say, it was much better than I imagined. First some context: this started as a short film in 1967 that was to be called "Bring On The Dancing Girls", about a bunch of guys and their typical guy experiences in and around New York. Then, the idea became to splice in a love story between one of the guys (J.R., played by Harvey Keitel) and a girl he meets on the Staten Island Ferry (Zina Bethune) and title it "I Call First". Then an exploitation distributor offered to distribute the film if there was some sex and nudity added to it, which Scorsese did, and changed the title again.<br /><br />Despite being cobbled together out of many disparate parts, Scorsese and his assistant Mardik Martin manage to weave a coherent and interesting narrative throughout. One of the most startling things is that, at the young age of 25, Scorsese already showed the technical command and a number of future hallmarks that would make him one of the most celebrated American directors ever. For example, the scene in which J.R. and The Girl first meet on the ferry is nearly done in one take, with only two or three cuts (an effective overheard shot as Keitel changes positions being the best) while the camera pans back and forth as they have their conversation on the films of John Wayne, French magazines and language, and so forth. The dialogue in the scene is also wonderful, and not at all plot-oriented - arguably because there was no semblance of a plot yet but also because both Keitel and Bethune speak and act naturally, as two people who are simply interested in what the other has to say. <br /><br />The ideas of Catholic guilt, the nature of sin and redemption, and the Madonna-Whore Complex figure heavily in nearly all of Scorsese's films. Consider Mean Streets, which is entirely about Charlie trying to reconcile his lifestyle with his sense of guilt and protect Johnny Boy from certain destruction as a form of redeeming himself. Or Jake LaMotta's inability to deal with Vickie on any normal terms. There is an early scene in this film when J.R. and The Girl are making out, passionately, and suddenly he stops. "What's wrong?", she asks. He tries to find the words to explain but can't, and mumbles about being old-fashioned, and not ready yet. However, Scorsese keeps showing us an image of the Virgin Mary on his dresser and alludes to what is really going on - she is still the Madonna, and J.R. doesn't want her to become The Whore. Another great, simple scene shows the two together at the table, and she lights a holy candle. "You don't do that with a holy candle!", he says. She just thought it would be nice. "What am I going to do with you?", he laments, smiling.<br /><br />She doesn't understand, but we do. The scene is performed breezily but there is a small undercurrent of tension due to J.R.'s religious principles. Immediately afterwards, Scorsese presents us with the crux of the whole movie - the girl tells J.R. that she was raped one night by a guy she used to drive around with, as we see a remarkably edited flashback of the event. His reaction is anger, and notice he blames her as a gut reaction? He cannot handle the fact that her Madonna image is now shattered for him. He tries to deal with it by getting drunk with the boys, but to no avail.<br /><br />I haven't mentioned J.R.'s friends much; their clowning around is very real; we all know people like this. If it seems sometimes that they are from another movie, well in point of fact they are. But they do help to establish J.R.'s character, and that's really all that matters. Michael Scala is particularly good as the leader of this crew, constantly irritated and harassing the others but in a good-natured way. <br /><br />Finally, in the movie's last scenes, J.R. drunkenly stumbles up to The Girl's apartment to talk to her. She is unexpectedly kind to him despite his earlier rejection, and they profess their love for one other. Then J.R. makes a huge mistake; he says he "forgives her" and will marry her anyway. "You forgive me...?", she says, bewildered. She knows it still bothers him and when she confronts him, he admits as much. Then she tells him it's not enough to just love her, but cannot explain to him why. Now it is HE who doesn't understand that there is nothing to forgive. Zina Bethune is phenomenal here; I hope to see more of her work. Crucially, the film does not end with J.R. realizing his error and marrying the girl, as we think it might, but with him trying to find solace at the the church confessional as Scorsese cross cuts with Christian imagery. Appropriate, if a little heavy-handed.<br /><br />All in all, this is a significant film, despite it's fractured history. It announces the work of a true talent distinctly with his own voice, and focuses on many themes that remain central to Scorsese's work. It is no masterpiece - there is too much fat, some unnecessary nudity (for the distributor) and the pace is far too languid, but as a starting point for examining the scope of Martin Scorsese's art it is invaluable.