I Want to Live!

This is one of my favorite movies! I saw it at 7 years old with my brother who was 10 when we snuck into our small-town theater. The story blew us away & the issue of the death penalty is just as prevalent today as it was in 1959. Absolutely a stunning performance by Susan Hayward as Barbara’s Graham, a woman actually sent to the gas chamber on scanty evidence while being tried a convicted by tabloid press coverage. When Hayward says, “I sleep in the raw!” You believe it. A top-notch performance & movie.

"I Want to Live!"(1958) for all it's drama and tension is first and foremost a damning indictment of capital punishment. Despite the inaccuracies and liberties it takes with it's subject matter, director Robert Wise has crafted a brutal story that has lost none of it's power after nearly sixty years. Based on the last few years of Barbara Graham(a bad girl like no other) who at one time or another was convicted of prostitution, perjury, forgery and ultimately murder, there is no attempt whatsoever in the film to gloss over her crimes and make her sympathetic. The real Graham was not very likable that much is clear. Twilight Time has now brought "I Want to Live!" to Blu-ray for the first time and the results are once again outstanding. Originally released by United Artists, MGM(which owns the UA catalog) has provided an excellent print and Twilight has given the film a high bitrate(30.03). There are no vertical lines, dirt, torn or damaged frames and the B&W cinematography by Lionel Lindon is really on display. Whether in the dusty, smoke filled interiors of the jazz club that opens the picture or the final scenes in San Quentin's death chamber, "I Want to Live!" contains vivid images that will stay with you long after the film's harrowing ending. Close-ups are especially detailed, so much so, that you can easily see the make-up on individual actors and actresses. And speaking of actresses, Susan Hayward gives a career making(and Oscar winning) performance in a role that she was meant to play. Defiant, opinionated, and only concerned about having a good time no matter what the cost to her(or anyone else), Hayward is astonishing in the role of a lifetime. The emotions and torment she goes through in the final thirty minutes of the film as she awaits to die in the gas chamber is unbearable and hard to watch even after all these years. Hayward gets great support from Simon Oakland, Theodore Bikel and Virginia Vincent among others. The Audio(English DTS-HA MA 1.0) is crystal clear and free of any noise artifacts(hiss, pops, etc.). Jazz lovers will especially appreciate the music of Johnny Mandel which is one of the highlights of the film and is offered as an isolated score as part of the special features. "I Want to Live!" is 121 minutes(Aspect ratio: 1.85:1) and only contains the following subtitle: English SDH. Special features include an audio commentary and the original theatrical trailer. There is an informative booklet by film historian Julie Kirgo about the making of the film. The Blu-ray disc itself is housed in a solid transparent(clear) Blu-ray case (not an eco-cutout) similar to those used by Criterion. "I Want to Live!" is not for everyone and might even be hard to watch for some, but it has lost none of it's power and certainly comes recommended.

I saw this years ago and loved it, had to see it again! Such a great movie and great acting!

I watched this movie as a youngster on TV. The dramatic title and subject matter were quite memorable. I caught up with it for a second viewing. I certainly didn't understand it all back then.This is a great movie! Barbara Graham, portrayed by Susan Hayward, is a fast living women, convicted and executed for a murder she denied committing. Robert Wise (who also directed "Sound of Music") moves the majority of the movie at a fast pace. Only towards the end, during endless appeals and the mechanical preparations for the execution, does Wise slow the pace significantly. This is one of those black and white movies one can't imagine in color.Susan Hayward gives us as performance of a lifetime, winning herself a deserving academy award. This was quite something!

First, I have to tell you this movie is from 1958, now I can continue....very dated, seriously date but not in a bad way. The downside of this movie is the first half. The downside of this movie is the first half with Susan Hayward....don't misunderstand, I do love her but she overacts terribly and always had a tendency to "snarl" her lines. so understanding that she snarls all through this movie we can go on. I have never seen a movie that showed the inner workings of a gas chamber and all those last minute death row aspects. The waiting for the governor's call, the special holding area etc. Very interesting and the fact that this was a woman, did I mention true story. It seemed to me the reasons behind the murder were moot it was what happened after that made the story. And that was interesting. The support cast....outstanding.

My Aunt wanted the movie, so I bought it for Her

I Want to Live! is a surprisingly dated, rather creaky film noir, even though made as late as 1958. The reason is that it's purpose was to crusade against the death penalty. The film was made after much lobbying by Ed Montgomery, a newspaperman who opposed the death penalty and the film itself is warped at every point to make its central character, Barbara Graham, the character played by Susan Hayward, appealing to the audience. Despite the ham-handed efforts to secure our sympathies for Graham, the film works well enough on its own terms as Graham is finally executed in the gas chamber at San Quentin. The ending has power to shock even though the stage management by the director is clumsy and leaden.The Graham story is in fact a good deal more nuanced than you'd ever know from the movie, which makes it appear that Graham is condemned on the basis of purged testimony obtained through a plea bargain. Ironically, the real Graham story was a good more of a noir story than the one depicted in I Want to Live! and would have been far more interesting than the one-dimensional screed which made it to the screen.

I saw this film when I was a kid in 1958. This doesn't seem to be the same as the original film. I remember Barbara Graham, (Susan Hayward), pleading "I Want to Live" with her face against the cell bars. Maybe I missed it, but I didn't see it in this film. Still a tense film.The music is just so excellent!Art Farmer ... jazz musicianJohnny Mandel ... conductor (as John Mandel)Shelly Manne ... jazz musicianRed Mitchell ... jazz musicianGerry Mulligan ... jazz musicianBud Shank ... jazz musicianRuss Freeman ... musician (uncredited)Jack Sheldon ... musician: trumpet (uncredited)

Susan Hayward, a sorely neglected actress these days, was a strong, sensual, slightly mannered, versatile star actress of the forties and fifties. Her vibrant portrayal of Barbara Graham, executed for her possible part in a murder in 1955, three years before this not altogether accurate film of her life, trial, and time on Death Row, is the heart and soul of this mostly admirable version of events, directed by Robert Wise, a fine director until he got von Trapped.She deserved her Oscar and is well supported by Simon Oakland {later investigating the Bates motel} as a journalist, Theodore Bikel as a psychologist, Alice Backes as a kind nurse in the prison, and others, with not a weak link among them.A few of the fades and edits are on the slow side for some reason, and the film loses a little momentum once we are taken to court, but on the whole it’s a very good effort, as well as cogent proof of the iniquity of the death penalty.Well worth nearly two hours of your time, particularly for Susan Hayward at her feisty, ferocious best.

Over the past few years, I have been working my way through classic films and finally I got around to I Want to Live! For me, this is a film of two halves (well, 90 minutes and 30 minutes, to be precise). I found the first 90 minutes to be a very camp, OTT melodrama... very much living up to the exclamation mark at the end of the film's title.Hayward chews the scenery and over acts very much as she later would in Valley of the Dolls. In fact, I have to wonder whether her dancing in I Want to Live! was the source of her high camp routine accompanying her "I'll Plant My Own Tree" number in Valley.The jarring jazz soundtrack almost seems to be in evidence to confirm/remind us that, at its heart, I Want to Live! is a noir.However, the final 30 minutes of the film are truly harrowing and horrific. For me, it is these final 30 minutes that make the film and make it worth watching.Did Hayward deserve the Oscar that year? To me - probably not. Other nominees, including Elizabeth Taylor, Deborah Kerr and Rosalind Russell were far more worthy performances overall.I Want to Live! is a very good film, but not a great one. The levity at the start of the film sits at odds with the horrific ending. But maybe that is the point?The DVD provides a very clear print, with nice contrast. The soundtrack is presented in its original mono and can be quite hard to hear in places as a result.4/5 overall for the film, largely due to the final 30 minutes.

One for the collection of any cinema buff

On it`s day a great cinema box office hit and still a collectors must have for followers of Hayward. She could have easely have got her self off the hook but dared to push her luck. The real villans going scot`free. The final moments must have been terrifying even to the hardest of criminals when the chain snapped and sound of the cannister dropped.Suplied courtesy of Amazons supply chain.

The superb Susan Hayward stars in this harrowing true story of a woman condemned to death in the gas chamber. One of the best films of the 40's along with Miss Hayward's "I'll Cry Tomorrow" and "Smash Up".