I Want to Live! (1958)

Barbara Graham is a woman with dubious moral standards, often a guest in seedy bars. She has been sentenced for some petty crimes. Two men she knows murder an older woman. When they get ... See full summary »

Director:

Robert Wise

Writers:

Nelson Gidding (screenplay), Don Mankiewicz (screenplay),

Stars:

Susan Hayward, Simon Oakland, Virginia Vincent

Won 1 Oscar. Another 8 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Susan Hayward	...	Barbara Graham
Simon Oakland	...	Edward S. 'Ed' Montgomery
Virginia Vincent	...	Peg
Theodore Bikel	...	Carl G.G. Palmberg
Wesley Lau	...	Henry L. Graham
Philip Coolidge	...	Emmett Perkins
Lou Krugman	...	John R. 'Jack' Santo
James Philbrook	...	Bruce King
Bartlett Robinson	...	District Attorney Milton
Gage Clarke	...	Attorney Richard G. Tibrow
Joe De Santis	...	Al Matthews
John Marley	...	Father Devers
Raymond Bailey	...	San Quentin Warden
Alice Backes	...	Barbara, San Quentin Nurse
Gertrude Flynn	...	San Quentin Matron

Storyline

Barbara Graham is a woman with dubious moral standards, often a guest in seedy bars. She has been sentenced for some petty crimes. Two men she knows murder an older woman. When they get caught they start to think that Barbara has helped the police to arrest them. As a revenge they tell the police that Barbara is the murderer.

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Plot Keywords:

police | bar | drug addict | women's prison | cult director | 

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Taglines:

Barbara Graham's Last Scream From Gas Chamber...

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Genres:

Biography | Crime | Drama | Film-Noir

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 November 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Barbara Graham Story

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Figaro

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

As a reporter for the Los Angeles Daily Mirror, Gene Blake covered every day of Barbara Graham's murder trial, and witnessed her execution and the executions of Santo and Perkins. He called this movie "a dramatic and eloquent piece of propaganda for the abolition of the death penalty." He further stated that the film ignored "...The wealth of evidence which convinced 12 conscientious jurors beyond a reasonable doubt that Mrs. Graham was guilty and should die for a most despicable crime, the brutal and senseless murder of a 62 year-old crippled widow, Mrs. Mabel Monahan."

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Goofs

When Barbara is being visited in jail by her friend and later the police informant, there is a fine screen between the jail's bars, presumably so the inmate cannot get contraband from a visitor. But the screen appears and disappears in the various scenes.

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Quotes

Barbara Graham: I never even knew the dame.
Police lieutenant: You know she's been murdered, don't you?
Barbara Graham: Yeah. So was Julius Caesar. I didn't know him either.

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Connections

Referenced in George Stevens: The Filmmakers Who Knew Him (2001)

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Soundtracks

Performed by:
Art Farmer (trumpet)
Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax)
Frank Rosolino (trombone)
Bud Shank (alto sax and flute)
Pete Jolly (piano)
Red Mitchell (bass)
Shelly Manne (drums)

User Reviews

An extraordinary performance by Susan Hayward.

Many people recognize Susan Hayward as a great actress but if you ask them in what movie they thought she was remarkable, they'll usually tell you that they can't remember any particular classic in which she played. They'll tell you that they think she is a great actress for all the movies and roles in her career. Let's face it. She never played in a classic. There isn't one movie on AFI's top 100 list that stares her. But if you ask anybody what her best performance was, anybody will answer that it was her role as Barbara Graham in "I want to live". Sure the movie's not a classic. But she totally deserved the best actress Oscar she won for her role in it.

Barbara Graham (Hayward) is a tough, wisecracking prostitute. A real party-girl. Even when she gets arrested for murder, she keeps on joking around and p***ing-off the cops. But when she realizes that this thing is going to court and that if she's convicted, she could be executed in the gas-chamber, she doesn't see things the same way anymore. And when she thinks she has found a man that is willing to testify that she was with him on the night of the murder, he gets her to tell him that she was present at the scene of the crime. She tells him all this. But when he is summoned in court, he is the prosecution's witness and he appears to be a cop who has trapped her into telling all the evidence the prosecution needs to convict her.

Robert Wise's directing is pretty good but the two things that make this one worth watching are the music and Hayward's performance. John Mandel's choice of the blues for the music is excellent and allows us to hang on with Barbara until her very last second alive. Be forewarned: This one is 100% of a tear-jerker and requires nerves of steel to make it through the whole thing without crying. If you like Hayward, see it at all costs. However, Robert Wise has directed some better ones like "West side story" for example. But still, it's pretty good.