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Knock on Any Door

Knock on Any Door

Drama · Crime · 1949

An attorney defends a hoodlum of murder, using the oppressiveness of the slums to appeal to the court.

Movie details

Knock on Any Door

“It will shock you but it will hold you spellbound to the end!”

1949 Drama · Crime 1h 40m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.2 / 10

Community rating

An attorney defends a hoodlum of murder, using the oppressiveness of the slums to appeal to the court.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Knock on Any Door?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Cry of the City

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The Asphalt Jungle

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Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two young daughters, gets seduced by the world of online gambling and chat rooms where a virtual romance and sexual obsession ultimately leads to the murder of an innocent man.

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Leonard is an English tailor who used to craft suits on London’s world-famous Savile Row. After a personal tragedy, he’s ended up in Chicago, operating a small tailor shop in a rough part of town where he makes beautiful clothes for the only people around who can afford them: a family of vicious gangsters.

Brute Force

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The Pelican Brief

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Nicholas Ray

Written by

John Monks Jr. · Daniel Taradash

Humphrey Bogart

Humphrey Bogart

Andrew Morton

John Derek

John Derek

Nick Romano

George Macready

George Macready

Dist. Atty. Kerman

Allene Roberts

Allene Roberts

Emma

Candy Toxton

Candy Toxton

Adele Morton

Mickey Knox

Mickey Knox

Vito

Barry Kelley

Barry Kelley

Judge Drake

Court is in session

Put Knock on Any Door on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.