I Want to Live!

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

7.6K

YOUR RATING

A prostitute, sentenced to death for murder, pleads her innocence.

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Film Noir True Crime Biography Crime Drama

A prostitute sentenced to death for murder pleads her innocence.A prostitute sentenced to death for murder pleads her innocence.A prostitute sentenced to death for murder pleads her innocence.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

7.6K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 1 Oscar
- 6 wins & 16 nominations total

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
A woman named Betsy Ann Smith from Wakefield, Virginia won a bit part in this film as a prize on The Price Is Right (1956).

Goofs
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 she throws her weight onto it.

Quotes
Barbara Graham: I never even knew the dame.
Police lieutenant: You know she's been murdered, don't you?
Barbara Graham: Yeah. So was Julius Caesar. I didn't know him either.

Crazy credits
The film opens with this statement: The pitiless story told in this film is a true story. This story had to be told to the whole world; the whole world should see it and hear it. What good are films if they do not make us face the realities of our time? Here is the reality of our time, and we have no right to be ignorant of it. The day will come when such documents will seem to us to refer to prehistoric times, and we shall consider them as unbelievable that in earlier centuries witches were burned or thieves had their right hands cut off. Such period of true civilization is still in the future, but this film has the honor of at least contributing to its coming". Albert Camus - Nobel Prize winner.

Connections
Edited into The Clock (2010)

Soundtracks
My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean

Terrific Susan Hayward performance

Barbara Graham (Susan Hayward) is an aged lying grifter prostitute. She's been in and out of jail. She willingly perjures herself for two cohorts and gets a year in prison. She is released to probation and joins two con-men. She tries for a family but her husband turns into a drug addict. The cops follow her and arrests her, Emmett Perkins and John R. Santo. She's arrested for passing bad cheques among many charges. The men throw her under the bus and claim she's the murderer. She becomes a media sensation and maintains her innocence throughout.

Hayward is terrific as a ballsy broad. She's not an innocent naive character although the movie portray her as innocent of the murder. The media sensation adds another layer to the movie. It is a bit hard to root for the character but Hayward makes the movie work. She gets to do some juicy acting as she prepares to be executed.