A prostitute, sentenced to death for murder, pleads her innocence.
Related News
-
Director Robert Wise Dies at 91
15 September 2005 | IMDb News
User Lists
Related lists from IMDb users
Share this Rating
Title: I Want to Live! (1958)
Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.
Learn more
More Like This
I'll Cry Tomorrow
(1955)
Certificate: Passed
Biography
|
Drama
|
Music
Director:
Daniel Mann
Stars:
Susan Hayward,
Richard Conte,
Eddie Albert
A Double Life
(1947)
Crime
|
Drama
|
Film-Noir
Director:
George Cukor
Stars:
Ronald Colman,
Edmond O'Brien,
Signe Hasso
Caught
(1949)
Drama
|
Film-Noir
|
Romance
Director:
Max Ophüls
Stars:
James Mason,
Barbara Bel Geddes,
Robert Ryan
Body and Soul
(1947)
Drama
|
Film-Noir
|
Sport
Director:
Robert Rossen
Stars:
John Garfield,
Lilli Palmer,
Hazel Brooks
Executive Suite
(1954)
Certificate: Passed
Drama
Director:
Robert Wise
Stars:
William Holden,
Barbara Stanwyck,
June Allyson
The Dark Mirror
(1946)
Crime
|
Drama
|
Film-Noir
Director:
Robert Siodmak
Stars:
Olivia de Havilland,
Lew Ayres,
Thomas Mitchell
The Three Faces of Eve
(1957)
Drama
|
Mystery
Director:
Nunnally Johnson
Stars:
Joanne Woodward,
David Wayne,
Lee J. Cobb
Kansas City
(1996)
Crime
|
Drama
|
Music
Director:
Robert Altman
Stars:
Jennifer Jason Leigh,
Miranda Richardson,
Harry Belafonte
The Star
(1952)
Drama
|
Romance
Director:
Stuart Heisler
Stars:
Bette Davis,
Sterling Hayden,
Natalie Wood
Last Day of Freedom
(2015)
Documentary
|
Animation
|
Short
Directors:
Dee Hibbert-Jones,
Nomi Talisman
Stars:
Bill Babbitt
Eila
(2003)
Drama
Director:
Jarmo Lampela
Stars:
Sari Mällinen,
Ilkka Koivula,
Hannes Suominen
The Holy family
(1976)
Drama
Director:
Anssi Mänttäri
Stars:
Lasse Pöysti,
Birgitta Ulfsson,
Rita Polster
Edit
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 (as Gage Clark) | |
| 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 | |
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Add Synopsis
See All (85) »
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. Written by Mattias Thuresson
Plot Keywords:
death row | jazz score | execution of woman | true crime | courtroom drama |Taglines:
The murder trial that shook the world! See more »Parents Guide:
View content advisory »
Edit
Edit
See more on IMDbPro »
See full technical specs »
Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
3 December 1958 (Italy) See more »Also Known As:
The Barbara Graham Story See more »Edit
Box Office
Budget:
$1,383,578 (estimated)Gross USA:
$5,641,711, 31 December 1958Company Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
Mono (Westrex Recording System)Color:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
Edit
Barbara Graham: Oh, no ma'am, I won't.
Prison Matron: I hope you mean it... You do have a choice. People have managed to be fairly happy by *not* getting into trouble. Get a job! Maybe get married!
Barbara Graham: I have been... occasionally.
Prison Matron: Your way doesn't seem to be going too well. Why don't you try the other?
Barbara Graham: Thanks. ...
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
The actor who played the Prison Captain of the Death House, Dabbs Greer, would go on to play the elderly version of Paul Edgecomb who was a retired Prison Captain of another prison Death House in the 1999 film The Green Mile. Tom Hanks played the younger version of that character. See more »Goofs
When Barbara wakes up screaming from a nightmare, a prison matron comes in shining a flashlight on her. In close-up, the light has a Fresnel-type lens, but in the next long shot, the flashlight has a clear lens. See more »Quotes
Prison Matron: You've done your time and you're getting out. So watch yourself. You're on probation for five years. Don't leave the San Francisco area or otherwise violate your probation in any way. Or you'll be back here quick enough.Barbara Graham: Oh, no ma'am, I won't.
Prison Matron: I hope you mean it... You do have a choice. People have managed to be fairly happy by *not* getting into trouble. Get a job! Maybe get married!
Barbara Graham: I have been... occasionally.
Prison Matron: Your way doesn't seem to be going too well. Why don't you try the other?
Barbara Graham: Thanks. ...
See more »
Crazy Credits
Before the first images comes the disclaimer: "You are about to see a factual story. It is based on articles I wrote, other newspaper and magazine articles, court records, legal and private correspondence, investigative reports, personal interviews - and the letter of Barbara Graham." Edgar S. Montgomery - Pulitzer Prize winner. San Francisco Examiner. See more »Connections
Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: Hercules and the Captive Women (1992) See more »Contribute to This Page
Explore popular movies available to rent or buy on Prime Video.
I can only assume people not liking this film are either really young or in denial of it's impact...possibly both. Hayward is one of the greats...especially at playing real people, as in I'll Cry Tomorrow and With A Song In My Heart. Long before women were allowing themselves to look and act like this on screen, Hayward was more than willing to. Her dt's scene in I'll Cry Tomorrow has only been done as well by Diana Ross in Lady Sings The Blues. The gas chamber scene in I Want To Live is still one of the most unnerving scenes ever. No one really knows if Barbara Graham was guilty or innocent. It is strange, however, that many people who were screaming for her death...at the end...were convinced she was innocent and had been railroaded by the courts.