Main Cast: Susan Hayward, Simon Oakland, Virginia Vincent, Theodore Bikel, Wesley Lau
Release Year: 1958
Country: US
Run Time: 120 minutes
Plot
Grim, almost unbearably intense, I Want To Live is the story of the life and execution of Barbara Graham (Susan Hayward) a perjurer, prostitute, liar and drug addict. The product of a broken home, Graham works as a shill, luring gullible men into crooked card games. She attempts to go straight, marries the wrong man, and has a baby. When her life falls apart, she returns to her former profession and is involved in a murder. Despite her claims of innocence, she is convicted and executed. Robert Wise directs the uniformly fine cast with grim efficiency, telling Graham's story in a series of adroitly crafted scenes that won him a well-deserved Academy Award nomination. However, the film belongs to Susan Hayward who gives a intense, shattering performance without one false note. Her performance is so grimly focused that she is, at times, almost unbearable to watch. The final scenes, which lead up to Graham's execution, are exhausting in their emotional intensity as the audience is spared nothing of Graham's agony, despair and desperation when she finally loses the long battle to save her life. Whether one sees Graham as a murderer or a hapless victim of society, the power and relentless, sordid reality of her story leaves an indelible memory in the mind of the viewer. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
Review
I Want to Live! is one of the screen's most powerful films. While Susan Hayward was often inclined to accept melodramatic scripts, nothing in her career tops her Oscar-winning performance as prostitute and con artist Barbara Graham, struggling to avoid execution in California's gas chamber. Graham's real-life struggle was well-known to the audiences of 1958. In lesser hands, a film of this sort could have become exploitative, but Hayward and director Robert Wise know just how far to take the material. The final thirty minutes are paced with an unrelenting intensity. Watch carefully for Hayward's performance in the death chamber scene, as she displays fear, anger, and a desire for whatever dignity there is left to find. All of the film's tech credits are good without being showy -- indeed, had they been more prominent, the film's effect might have been thrown out of balance. This is Hayward's film all the way, and she gives one of the greatest performances of any era. ~ Richard Gilliam, All Movie Guide
Philip Coolidge - Emmett Perkins; Lou Krugman - Jack Santo; James Philbrook - Bruce King; Bartlett Robinson - District Attorney; Gage Clarke - Richard Tibrow; Joe de Santis - Al Matthews; John Marley - Father Devers; Raymond Bailey - San Quentin Warden; Alice Backes - San Quentin Nurse; Gertrude Flynn - San Quentin Matron; Russell Thorson - Sergeant; Dabbs Greer - San Quentin Captain; Stafford Repp - Sergeant; Gavin MacLeod - Lieutenant; Olive Blakeney - Corona warden; Peter Breck - Ben Miranda; Art Farmer; Brett Halsey; Wendell Holmes - Detective; Jason Johnson - Bixel; Rusty Lane - Judge; S. John Launer - San Quentin officer; Shelly Manne - Musician; Marion Marshall - Rita; Red Mitchell; Gerry Mulligan; George Putnam - Himself [uncredited]; Evelyn Scott - Personal effects clerk; Dan Sheridan - Police broadcaster; Lorna Thayer - Corona guard; Jack Weston - NCO; Bill Stout - Newsman
Credit
Lynn Stalmaster - Casting, Robert Wise - Director, William W. Hornbeck - Editor, Johnny Mandel - Composer (Music Score), Johnny Mandel - Musical Direction/Supervision, Jack Stone - Makeup, Tom Tuttle - Makeup, Edward S. Haworth - Production Designer, Lionel Lindon - Cinematographer, Walter Wanger - Producer, Victor A. Gangelin - Set Designer, Fred Lau - Sound/Sound Designer, Nelson Gidding - Screenwriter, Don M. Mankiewicz - Screenwriter, Ed Montgomery - Book Author
The film tells the story of the life and execution of Barbara Graham (Hayward) a prostitute, liar and drug addict. Graham is the product of a broken home, and works luring men into fixed card games.
At one point, she attempts to go straight and marries the wrong man, and has a child.
When her life falls apart, she returns to her former profession and gets involved in a murder. She claims her innocence, yet is convicted and executed.
A prologue and an epilogue contributed to the film by Montgomery characterize the film's content — which largely portrays Graham as innocent of the murder — as factual. But there was substantial evidence of Graham's complicity in the crime. Hollywood writer Robert Osborne, who would later become host of Turner Classic Movies, interviewed Susan Hayward and asked whether or not she believed Barbara Graham had been innocent. According to Osborne, the actress seemed hesitant to answer at first, but ultimately admitted that her research of evidence and letters in the case led her to believe that the woman she played in the movie was probably guilty. (Telecast of movie and commentary by Robert Osborne, Feb. 20, 2009).
Critical reception
When released the staff at Variety gave the film a favorable review, writing, "There is no attempt to gloss the character of Barbara Graham, only an effort to understand it through some fine irony and pathos. She had no hesitation about indulging in any form of crime or vice that promised excitement on her own, rather mean, terms... Hayward brings off this complex characterization. Simon Oakland, as Montgomery, who first crucified Barbara Graham in print and then attempted to undo what he had done, underplays his role with assurance.[2]
Film critic Bosley Crowther liked the film and wrote, "...Miss Hayward plays it superbly, under the consistently sharp direction of Robert Wise, who has shown here a stunning mastery of the staccato realistic style. From a loose and wise-cracking B-girl she moves on to levels of cold disdain and then plunges down to depths of terror and bleak surrender as she reaches the end. Except that the role does not present us a precisely pretty character, its performance merits for Miss Hayward the most respectful applause."[3]
Reporter Gene Blake, who covered the actual murder trial for the Los Angeles Daily Mirror, called the movie "a dramatic and eloquent piece of propaganda for the abolition of the death penalty."[4]
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 100 percent of critics gave the film a positive review, based on eleven reviews.[5]
Directors Guild of America: DGA Award, Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures, Robert Wise; 1959.
Academy Awards: Oscar, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, Lionel Lindon; Best Director, Robert Wise; Best Film Editing, William Hornbeck; Best Sound, Gordon Sawyer (Samuel Goldwyn SSD); Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium. Nelson Gidding and Don Mankiewicz; 1959.
Golden Globes: Golden Globe, Best Motion Picture - Drama; Best Motion Picture Director, Robert Wise; 1959.
Grammy Awards: Grammy, Best Soundtrack Album, Dramatic Picture Score or Original Cast, Johnny Mandel; 1959.
Writers Guild of America: WGA Award (Screen), Best Written American Drama, Nelson Gidding and Don Mankiewicz; 1959.
^Variety. Film review, 1958. Last accessed: March 24, 2008.
^Crowther, Bosley. The New York Times, film review, "Vivid Performance by Susan Hayward; Actress Stars in 'I Want to Live'," November 19, 1958. Last accessed: March 24, 2008.
^ Harnish, Larry - Barbara Graham case revisited, November 28, 1958 - Los Angeles Times, November 28, 2008, Article originally published by Blake, Gene, as BARBARA GRAHAM - FILM AND FACT. Los Angeles Daily Mirror, November 28, 1958
