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I Want to Live!
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I Want to Live! (1958) is a drama film noir directed by Robert Wise which tells the story of a woman, Barbara Graham, convicted of murder and facing execution. It features Susan Hayward, Simon Oakland, Stafford Repp, and Theodore Bikel. The movie was adapted from articles written by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ed Montgomery based on letters written by Graham. It was produced by Walter Wanger and directed by Robert Wise.
The film earned Hayward an Academy Award for Best Actress.
film tells the story of the life and execution of Barbara Graham (Hayward) a prostitute, liar and drug addict.
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Encyclopedia
I Want to Live! (1958) is a drama film noir directed by Robert Wise which tells the story of a woman, Barbara Graham, convicted of murder and facing execution. It features Susan Hayward, Simon Oakland, Stafford Repp, and Theodore Bikel. The movie was adapted from articles written by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ed Montgomery based on letters written by Graham. It was produced by Walter Wanger and directed by Robert Wise.
The film earned Hayward an Academy Award for Best Actress.
Plot
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.
Cast
- Susan Hayward as Barbara Graham
- Simon Oakland as Edward S. "Ed" Montgomery
- Virginia Vincent as Peg
- Theodore Bikel as Carl G.G. Palmberg
- Wesley Lau as Henry L. Graham
- Philip Coolidge as Emmett Perkins
- Lou Krugman as John R. "Jack" Santo
- James Philbrook as Bruce King
- Bartlett Robinson as District Attorney Milton
- Gage Clarke as Attorney Richard G. Tibrow
- Joe De Santis as Al Matthews
- John Marley as Father Devers
- Raymond Bailey as San Quentin Warden
- Alice Backes as Barbara, San Quentin Nurse
- Gertrude Flynn as San Quentin Matron
Production notes
Despite a prologue and epilogue contributed to the film by Montgomery that states the film's content - which largely portrays Graham as innocent in the murder - is factual, there was substantial evidence of Graham's complicity in the crime.
In fact, Robert Osborne, 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 hesitated and did not seem to want to answer at first, but ultimately admitted that her exhaustive research of evidence and letters led her to believe that the woman she played in the movie had likely been guilty of the crime for which she was sent to the gas chamber. The movie played her as probably innocent, but even the actress who portrayed her in the role that earned her an Oscar felt the evidence led one to believe Graham was indeed a murderess. (Telecast of movie and commentary by Robert Osborne February 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.
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."
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."
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 100 percent of critics gave the film a positive review, based on 11 reviews.
Awards
Wins
Nominations
- 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.
- British Academy of Film and Television Arts: BAFTA Film Award, Best Foreign Actress, Susan Hayward; 1960.
Adaptation
I Want to Live! was remade for television in 1983. It featured Lindsay Wagner, Martin Balsam, Pamela Reed, Harry Dean Stanton, Dana Elcar, Ellen Geer, Robert Ginty and Barry Primus.
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