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      Watch trailer for I Want to Live!

      I Want to Live!

      1958, Biography, 2h 0m

      17 Reviews 1,000+ Ratings

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      Movie Info

      This film tells the riveting true story of brazen bad girl Barbara Graham (Susan Hayward, in an Academy Award-winning performance), a perpetual offender who tries to go straight but is sent to death row after being implicated in a murder. When journalist Ed Montgomery (Simon Oakland), whose initial newspaper articles on Barbara's crime played up her recklessness, becomes convinced that she may be innocent, he begins a desperate campaign to save her from the gas chamber.

      • Genre: Biography

      • Original Language: English

      • Director: Robert Wise

      • Writer: Nelson Gidding

      • Release Date (Theaters):  original

      • Release Date (Streaming):

      • Runtime:

      • Production Co: Figaro Films

      Cast & Crew

      Susan Hayward
      Simon Oakland
      Theodore Bikel
      Wesley Lau
      Philip Coolidge
      Joe De Santis

      News & Interviews for I Want to Live!

      Critic Reviews for I Want to Live!

      Audience Reviews for I Want to Live!

      • May 11, 2021
        Some complain that Susan Hayward's acting is a over-the-top, but I disagree. It's one of her finest performances and that makes it one of the finest acting jobs of her era. The film itself is in incisive portrayal of a flawed woman and America's legal system.
        Super Reviewer
      • Oct 23, 2013
        Wow! Susan Hayward really blows the lid of this before-its-time film. Hayward's character is just full of surprises as a survivor seemingly willing to do anything in order to live. Great acting.
        Super Reviewer
      • Sep 02, 2012
        Robert Wise's venture conveying that the truth can be adjusted. Quite a deceptive story of miscarriage of justice for someone who learns about this factual case from the movie. And Susan Hayward's performance was way too mediocre to be Oscar-worthy. As a work of fiction based on actual events, the movie isn't an absolute rubbish. The last half hour is a drag, though.
        flixster f Super Reviewer
      • Jan 25, 2009
        Great films distinguish themselves in a number of different ways. Some of them are perfectly cast. Others have tremendous cinematography. Still others may have great scripting, direction or editing. <i>I Want to Live</i> stands out for one reason, Susan Hayward's performance. Hayward shines in this true story about a woman convicted of murder and sentenced to die in California's gas chamber. There are numerous supporting characters in this dramatization but it's Susan Hayward's heart-wrenching portrayal that will haunt you even after the credits roll.
        Super Reviewer

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