I Want to Live! (1958)

Directed by

Robert Wise

Genre

drama film, prison film, biographical film, crime film, trial film

Country

United States

Runtime

2h

Rated

NR

Rating

6.9 of 10 from 120 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A prostitute and habitual criminal is convicted of murder and sent to death row. The film follows her final days as she fights to prove her innocence in a potentially unjust case.

tensebleakurgentemotionally rawclaustrophobicheavygrittysuspenseful

What happens

I Want to Live! is a 1958 American independent biographical film noir drama film directed by Robert Wise, and starring Susan Hayward, Simon Oakland, Virginia Vincent, and Theodore Bikel. It follows the life of Barbara Graham, a prostitute and habitual criminal, who is convicted of murder and faces capital punishment. The screenplay, written by Nelson Gidding and Don Mankiewicz, was adapted from personal letters written by Graham, in addition to newspaper articles written by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ed Montgomery in the San Francisco Examiner. The film presents a highly fictionalized version of the case, indicating the possibility that Graham may have been innocent. Released in late 1958, I Want to Live! was a commercial and critical success, garnering favorable reviews from critics for Hayward's performance, as well as the film's realistic depiction of capital punishment. The film earned a total of six Academy Award nominations, with Hayward winning a Best Actress Oscar at the 31st Academy Awards as well as the Golden Globe Award in the same category. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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• Girls on the Loose (1958)
• Caged (1950)
• Cell 2455, Death Row (1955)
• We Who Are About to Die (1937)
• Women's Prison (1958)
• Murder by Contract (1958)
• Innocent Meeting (1958)