I Want to Live!

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.

When Barbara's son is brought to the jail for a visit, and the presence of the news media upsets Barbara, she retreats to an interior area of the jail and pounds on the wall in frustration.

The "brick" wall gives slightly as he throws her weight onto it.

When Barbara is being visited in jail by her friend and later the police informant, there is a fine screen between the jail's bars, presumably so the inmate cannot get contraband from a visitor.

But the screen appears and disappears in the various scenes.

"I Want To Live!" is an incredibly powerful drama about a woman who was found guilty of murder in the early 1950s.

Your eyes are glued to Hayward's vivid, lively image and supremely expressive face, as she grasps at life in this gut-wrenching true life tale of tragedy and the horror/terror of a savagely cruel sentence of capital punishment. The rhythm of this landmark movie is rapid, turgid and heartbreakingly devastating the story is a lesson in monumental injustice and contains the greatest performance of any actress of the Hollywood age.

By the WISE Jew director. It's proBab'ly not just about a pure philoSophy or huMANism but al'so for the deFENCE of their own Jewish INTERests.

Interesting and stirring film based based on life and death of Barbara Graham in which Susan Haywayd provides an unforgettable performance. At one time or another , she was convicted of forgery, perjury, prostitution , among other counts .

There is little that I could add to the other reviews and, if you read them, most will attest to the power of "I Want to Live". This is a jarring, harrowing film from the acting to the jazz score.

Believe me - 1958's "I Want To Live!" is a pretty grim, but, nevertheless, equally powerful "real-life" Drama about party-girl, petty criminal and convicted murderess, Barbara Graham.

Susan Hayward was a star for nearly 20 years filming such hits as I'll Cry Tomorrow, With A Song In My Heart, Demetrius An d The Gladiatprs, The Snow Of Kilimajaro, Soldier of Fortune, wth co stars in a great career such as Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, John Wayne, William Holden, Greg Peck. Susie took this role filmed at the Sam Goldwyn Studio (not her home studio 20th) and she gives a truly brilliant performance as a doomed woman set to be executed.

Whether Barbara Graham was really framed for murder or not is never really the point of this melodramatic look at a woman on death row, played to the hilt by SUSAN HAYWARD in one of her gutsiest performances. The main point seems to be showing us what a devastating time any prisoner on death row has while waiting for that execution to proceed.

First the mistake: Early on there's a guy named Joe playing a worn bongo. Someone yells -- "Speed it up Joe" and suddenly the bongo he's using is brand new!