| I Want to Live! | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Robert Wise |
| Produced by | Claude Miller Marcel Berbert |
| Written by | Screenplay: Nelson Gidding Don Mankiewicz Articles: Ed Montgomery Letters: Barbara Graham |
| Starring | Susan Hayward Simon Oakland Virginia Vincent Theodore Bikel |
| Music by | Johnny Mandel |
| Cinematography | Lionel Lindon |
| Editing by | William Hornbeck |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) | November 18, 1958 |
| Running time | 120 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
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.[1]
The film earned Hayward an Academy Award for Best Actress.
Contents |
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).
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]
Wins
Nominations
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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   | Robert Wise biography at Associated Content - Director Robert Wise was a Master Craftsman: Nominated for Academy Awards as Producer, Director and Editor - Associated Content |
| | Internet Movie Database entry 1983 remake - I Want to Live (1983) (TV) |
| | Internet Movie Database entry 1958 original - I Want to Live! (1958) |
| | ''Variety'' - I Want to Live! Review - Read Variety's Analysis Of The Movie I Want to Live! |
| | Barbara Graham case revisited, November 28, 1958 - Barbara Graham case revisited, November 28, 1958 | The Daily Mirror | Los Angeles Times |
| | Crowther, Bosley - The New York Times > Log In |
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