I Want to Live! (1958)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Robert Wise

Writers:

Nelson Gidding (screenplay) and
Don Mankiewicz (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

18 November 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Barbara Graham's Last Scream From Gas Chamber...

Plot:

Barbara Graham is a woman with dubious moral standards, often a guest in seedy bars. She has been sentenced for some petty crimes...

Plot Keywords:

Police | Bar | Cult Director | Rorschach Inkblot | Divorcee

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 7 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

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
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

Also Known As:

The Barbara Graham Story (USA) (working title)
Anni Rotzah Leich'yot (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]
Antakaa minun elää! (Finland) [fi]
Jag vill leva (Sweden) [sv]
Je veux vivre! (France) [fr]
Jeg vil leve! (Denmark) [da]
Laßt mich leben (West Germany) [de]
Non voglio morire (Italy) [it]
Quero Viver! (Brazil) [pt]
Quiero vivir (Spain) [es]
Thelo na ziso! (Greece) [el]

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1959) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (original rating) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | West Germany:12 | UK:15 (video rating) (1998) | UK:X (original rating) (cut)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Figaro

Trivia:

A woman named Betsy Ann Smith from Wakefield, Virginia, won a bit part in this film as a prize on "The Price Is Right" (1956).

Goofs:

Continuity: Keep an eye on the scene when the cops flush out the bad guys from the warehouse by calling them out one by one. As Graham cleans herself up in the mirror, the right side of her face is shown to be heavily scratched and her left cheek is clear, but as soon as she turns away to give herself up, the pattern is reversed.

Quotes:

Carl G.G. Palmberg: Life's a funny thing.
Barbara Graham: Compared to what?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Golden Girls: Sophia's Wedding: Part 1 (#4.6)" (1988)

Wise+Heyward=a must.

Let's begin with the minus side.This is necessary a one-side movie,because Barbara Graham is deemed innocent whereas nobody knows exactly the truth.And the movie does not help much for that matter:we know little of Graham's life before her arrest:a woman of easy virtue,but this is not enough to convince;her background,her childhood,everything is overshadowed.

However,this is a tour de force of a movie.Robert Wise,one of the masters of film noir,was the man who could pull off this harsh story,because he had always been a restrained director,and mainly,mainly,because,he was one of these artists who could make the best of black and white;I will only mention one scene:the arrest:Barbara is holding a soft toy,and she faces a blinding searchlight,while a jazz music is heard.Eerie indeed.

Susan Hayward,at her peak,is fabulous.I can't think of another actor or actress who gave such a heart-wrenching,such a harrowing performance as far as the death row is concerned(Sean Penn is her closer contender,in his extraordinary "dead man walking" part).

The "preparations" of the gas chamber are detailed with an unbearable accuracy:nothing is spared the audience.Wise was not the first to depict

the capital execution:André Cayatte did it before in "nous sommes tous des assassins"(1952)but he used to much characters and the movie seems today obsolete,and not only because the death penalty was abolished in France in 1981.Then José Giovanni in "deux hommes dans la ville"(1972),and the best French attempt "le pull-over rouge" (Michel Drach,1979) the latter based on a true story like Graham's.This movie remains commendable,the French TV never showed it,that speaks volumes. Two American movies tackled the topic in the nineties:"the last dance"(Sharon Stone being the only asset) and the already mentioned (and much better ) "dead man's walking".

Nothing comes close to Wise's and Heyward 's collaboration.Forget your bias and watch these two artists show us what the seventh art can achieve.