although he be best know for his collaboration with robert de niro and martin scorsese have also work to great effect with harvey keitel . in fact and keitel be there from the very beginning and play the lead in marty first feature and who that knock at my door . shot in black and white on the street of new york that have an important role in the director filmography and knock doesn not have a real plot and at least not that well define . it be more of a series of moment involve main character j. r. ( keitel ) and his relationship with a girl represent they discuss movie and they decide to get married and he discover she be once rap and lose it . all these scene be link by association rather than real coherence and even if the editing by thelma schoonmaker ( who for some reason do not work with marty again until rag bull ) do a good job in keep the film together . who that knock at my door fascinates at once for it seductive image and prove that scorsese have an eye for visuals right from the start and and the black and white cinematography give it an extra touch of beauty . if there be a defect to find here and it would be the lack of real narrative and a j. r. faith drive struggle ( a topic that marty dealt with much well in the mesmerizing mean street ) serve a little more than an excuse to show random episode of his everyday life . another proof of the inconsistent storytelling be the presence of a quite pointless dream sequence involve prostitute and it presence have be encourage by scorsese mentor roger corman for sheer marketing purpose ( nudity sell and you know ) . on the flip side and keitel performance be solid and eye catching for the entire running time and hinting and alongside the intelligent choice of music and at future cinematic glory . it doesn not prevent who that knock from feeling and look like a student picture and but fan of marty and and the american film industry in general and ought to check it out .