Trivia
While the ending credits are filmed outside of the actual San Quentin prison, the gas chamber scene was filmed on a replica set constructed on a soundstage.
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Inveterate researcher that he is, Robert Wise was determined to capture every grisly element of an execution for the climax of his movie. He visited San Quentin prison and asked for permission to see the gas chamber and witness an actual execution. After he'd seen it and had his art director photograph it and take measurements for set replication purposes, he was still uncertain about how he would structure the last act. He went back to the prison and made one final request for a detailed account of the entire execution procedure. This is what is painstakingly documented in the movie's climax.
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Based on the life of Barbara Graham, whose murder trial and controversial execution in 1955 made her a cause celebre.
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A woman named Betsy Ann Smith from Wakefield, Virginia, won a bit part in this film as a prize on The Price Is Right.
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The close-up of fake label on sulfuric acid bottle identifies Gidding Chemical as manufacturer. Nelson Gidding was the screenwriter.
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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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Even though she portrayed Barbara Graham as a tragic victim of circumstance, Susan Hayward later admitted that after doing some extensive research on the real Graham, she was most likely guilty of the murder of Mabel Monohan.
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