Directed by Robert Wise, and starring my #2 gal, Susan Hayward, in an Academy Award-winning performance, I Want to Live is a gritty, hard-hitting “discussion piece” kind of movie. The film, which will more than likely leave you questioning Mrs. Graham’s guilt, was based on the newspaper articles of Pulitzer Prize-winning San Francisco Examiner reporter, Edward S. Montgomery, and the letters of Barbara Graham.
Good-time party girl, Barbara Ward (Susan Hayward), is
living a fast and loose lifestyle when she is arrested on prostitution
charges. Now with a criminal record,
Barbara gets in further trouble with the law when, despite knowing perjury is a
felony, she agrees to provide a phony alibi for two men who want to beat a
rap. Convicted of perjury charges,
Barbara serves a year’s time and is then put on probation for five years. During her probation period, she marries a
man named Henry Graham then gives birth to a little boy. Henry Graham is a drug addict who cannot hold
a job, which results in Barbara passing bad checks and, ultimately, breaking
her parole.
Though married, Barbara keeps company with two men who are
suspected of the recent murder of a Burbank
widow; a sting operation is put into action, and the men and Barbara are
arrested. Completely hostile to
authorities, Barbara refuses to confess or to cooperate with prosecutors, and
when she is questioned by the press, her belligerent attitude begins the
initial action of trying her in the court of public opinion. With the headline “Bloody Babs, the Tiger
Woman,” reporter Ed Montgomery writes that Barbara is “young, attractive,
belligerent, immoral, and guilty as hell.”
As the case goes to trial, Barbara is fingered by the others
as the one who did the killing. Though
she claims she is innocent and that she wasn’t anywhere near Mabel Monahan’s
home that evening, Barbara has no alibi, and in an effort to concoct one, she
lies that she had been with a man at a hotel.
As it turns out, though, the man who offers to be her phony alibi is an
undercover police officer intent on getting a confession from her. When he threatens to walk out on her unless
she admits to having been with the other men, she agrees that she was, and that
confession is brought forward as evidence against her. Even though Barbara claims that her
“confession” was a lie due to fear of her alibi falling through, having done
time for perjury in the past, she is, more than ever, thought to be a
compulsive liar and, without question, guilty of the crime for which she is
standing trial.
All three suspects are convicted and sentenced to death in
the gas chamber at San Quentin.
Barbara moves to Death Row, and as the film plays out, Ed Montgomery
begins to believe that she is innocent.
Feeling that the press created the climate which condemned her, he seeks
to change the climate. With hopes to
have a lie detector test administered, a psychologist is called in, but it is
all to no avail. Barbara’s appeal is
denied…execution is inevitable...the gas chamber is prepared. In the end, the question remains…is Barbara
Graham a murderer? Yes, she is hard,
belligerent, immoral, and unlikeable…but is she a murderer? This film’s view is that she is not.
In all, I Want to Live received 6 Academy
Award nominations, taking home the win in the Lead Actress category. Without question, Miss Hayward deserved the
Academy Award she won for her work in this film, for she played the hardened
Mrs. Graham to absolute perfection.
Truly, there are not enough adjectives to describe the performance she
gave . . . she was brilliant . . . awesome . . . sensational . . . terrific . .
. completely stellar. While I think Miss
Hayward was an amazing actress who gave many superb performances, I believe I
Want to Live is definitely her finest hour. Adding to the fantastic acting in this film
is the incredible score. It is perfect
and totally adds to the realism. The
death row and gas chamber scenes are powerful and haunting, especially as
Barbara mentally prepares herself for the walk to her execution, only to
receive a last-minute stay by the governor.
Those torturous moments are brought vividly to life by Miss Hayward.
For those who like meaty, hard-hitting, gritty dramas with
completely magnificent acting, I Want to Live is an absolute
must-see. No matter whether you are a
proponent of the death penalty or an opponent, or whether you believe Barbara
Graham was, in fact, guilty, or whether you think she was wrongly convicted,
you absolutely will not be disappointed with the caliber of this film. It is truly outstanding! I don't believe the film is out on DVD; however, it is available in its entirety on YouTube (in parts), so you could catch it there.
Happy viewing!!
Happy viewing!!