I Want to Live! (1958)

I saw this movie when I was in elementary school and it's clear in my mind to this day. I don't believe I ever saw it again. It is so painful to watch. An attractive, feisty woman, Barbara Graham, is charged and convicted of murder. It is obvious that she has been made a scapegoat for an inconsistent legal system that is under the gun. We often view people on death row with narrowness. This movie, unlike any ever made, gave us a look at a human being, with aspirations, with hopes. The final scenes of the actual execution in the gas chamber should make anyone horrified. We obviously have no consistent criteria for those who live and die. She was not a monster but, despite pleas from every direction, she paid the ultimate price.

Barbara Graham (1923-1955) 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 revenge they tell the police that Barbara is the murderer.I was not familiar with the Barbara Graham case. I suppose I should say I am still not, at least not enough to compare the film to reality. So on that count, I have no opinion.But as a film in itself, this is great work. I can see the Oscar award was well-deserved. What I liked best, in fact, was how Graham was portrayed not necessarily as sympathetic. Innocent or not, she is coarse and rough around the edges. I appreciate they didn't make her seem too nice.

Barbara Graham (Susan Hayward) is an aged lying grifter prostitute. She's been in and out of jail. She willingly perjures herself for two cohorts and gets a year in prison. She is released to probation and joins two con-men. She tries for a family but her husband turns into a drug addict. The cops follow her and arrests her, Emmett Perkins and John R. Santo. She's arrested for passing bad cheques among many charges. The men throw her under the bus and claim she's the murderer. She becomes a media sensation and maintains her innocence throughout.Hayward is terrific as a ballsy broad. She's not an innocent naive character although the movie portray her as innocent of the murder. The media sensation adds another layer to the movie. It is a bit hard to root for the character but Hayward makes the movie work. She gets to do some juicy acting as she prepares to be executed.

almost a documentary. cruel, touching, vodka glass. a woman. a justice system. and a verdict - instruments as sleep medicine for consciousness. axis - a great performance of an amazing actress. Susan Hayward does more than a good character. she is Barbara Graham. her look, her nuances of words and gestures are ladder to the heart of case. because, measure is basic value of film. not poetry, not heavy shadows. only a story about a form of guilty out of definitions. a picture from old newspapers and a kind of Don Quijote in a special form. the film is not about innocence or errors. only about life as a collection of hopes. about a war against injustice as respect for law and testimony about presence of a silhouette. details, lights, images. all as pieces of a puzzle. and borders of an ash circle.