I Want to Live!

This movie is in black & white, has a jazzy score and a great central performance by Susan Hayward. She has many great lines of dialogue, most of which are spit out, and she plays the part for all its worth. The last half hour is completely engrossing. See it and then you'll remember it forever.

Good cinema has rhythm. Most classic cinema moves to the flow of orchestral film music, but for a certain kind of picture in the mid-50s to mid-60s, the images would skip to the modish sounds of bossa nova and free jazz. This isn't the most melodic or listenable music ever created, and often it was used simply to be hip and different. However, I Want to Live! has a jazz score that runs right through the picture, regulating its pace and complementing its relentlessly gritty tone.

The picture opens in a jazz club, in a short sequence which has nothing to do with the plot, but sets the scene. From this point on, a musical feel pervades the picture. The director is Robert Wise, an exceptional but seldom recognised filmmaker whose pictures had always been sensitive to rhythm, and would later win Oscars for directing musicals. Wise was an expert when it came to matching music, image and performance. In an early scene with a party aboard a boat, we hear some staccato Latin American music. The frame seems excessively crowded and filled with movement, while the lighting gives numerous shades of grey. The whole thing appears natural, but also looks precisely choreographed to the rhythm of the scene. At other times we get a slow, moody melody, and here the tones are stark and the movements lethargic. Even in scenes without music, there is a complex and eerie sound design of closing doors, photographers' flashes, telephone rings and suchlike, not to mention the sharp vocal delivery. This rhythmic approach, which is always present but never seems overdone, adds character to each moment, gives abrupt changes between scenes, and makes the whole picture fast-moving. Some commentators on Wise's career try to draw a line separating films like this from West Side Story, Sound of Music and so forth, but Wise's style and intention is consistent.

But the central pillar in I Want to Live! is of course the captivating performance of Susan Hayward. Hayward's acting is the size of a house, and she absolutely dominates the screen. However it is the littlest things that make this performance work – a tiny flash of her eyes or shrug of her shoulders. These small things are what bring out our sympathy for the character, while it is the powerhouse acting that gives the picture its passion. So overpowering is Hayward, that every other performance becomes somewhat forgettable. Except that is for Simon Oakland, who is rather impressive in his film debut, with a role which is complex because there is often a discrepancy between what his character says and what he is really feeling. Lou Krugman is also very memorable in his small role as Jack Santo, simply because he comes across as genuinely menacing and sadistic. No-one else really stands out, but at least no-one is conspicuously bad, and besides it helps to have a supporting cast that is a little bland because you would not want anyone to upstage Hayward.

We will never know for sure, but it is now widely agreed that the real Barbara Graham was in fact guilty, and while this movie never openly commits itself either way, it makes every allowance for the likelihood of her being innocent. However, the point of I Want to Live! was probably not to exonerate Barbara Graham, it was instead to demonstrate the horror and inhumanity of the death penalty. What matters is that we are convinced of the humanity of the character, and the desolateness of the situation. The ins and outs of the case are never really clearly defined, whereas the tone and force of the picture most definitely is.

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.

Capital Punishment was, is, and probably always will be immensely controversial. "I Want to Live" offers an argument against the practice, approaching the issue with a fervently emotional message.

Susan Hayward (perhaps the finest work of her career) portrays the real-life convicted murderess Barbara Graham with urgency, strength, and sensitivity. We follow the story of Graham as she gets in trouble with the law repeatedly. Eventually, she is involved with a couple of thugs; a woman is murdered, and the three are accused. Which one actually killed the woman is uncertain. The movie provides information from Graham's trial (after she is implicated by the other two), but cleverly skirts the issue of guilt, and leaves the viewer to come to one's own opinion about this.

Whatever your view on capital punishment is, and whether or not you believe Graham was the actual killer should not skew your opinion of the movie; artistically, it's a gem. It is guaranteed to get you thinking about the issue of capital punishment, and some of the questions that are inherent in the arguments for and against it.

The final sequence of the movie is poignant and eloquent in depicting the preparations for a gas chamber execution. These images are haunting and will stay with you long after you see the movie.

This movie is artistic and masterfully done; but one must set aside preconceived opinions on the issue (pro OR con) to fully appreciate it.

Susan Hayward really knew how to pick a good role. From the intensity of 1947's "Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman", to the gutsiness of 1955's "I'll Cry Tomorrow", to everything in between, Hayward left a legacy of amazing characters. Even when the role was horrid (such as 1967's trash-fest "Valley of the Dolls"), Hayward was a real trooper and made it work. Always one to tackle unusual and, oftentimes, unglamorous roles, Hayward really got a chance to sink her teeth into this one - and received an Oscar for her efforts.

In this tough-to-take biopic, Hayward plays Barbara Graham, a party girl who gets in over her head with drug use, prostitution, perjury, and various other illegal acts. As a known "goodtime girl", she has a reputation with the local authorities. One brilliant sequence has the police tracking Barbara across town - apparent fellow neighbors are actually tapped and following her every move. Finally, a supposedly innocent "Babs" gets thrown in the slammer for the brutal murder of an elderly woman. Losing her sense of freedom and any contact with her baby boy, Barbara's life goes from bad (on the street) to worse (in jail). Watching Barbara act-up and defy authority in the prison is actually funny, but what happens next to this wild woman is no laughing matter. Things get as bad as they possibly can when Barbara realizes that she may have to face the gas chamber.

Hayward goes all out in portraying this fascinating character and is totally over-the-top, but completely on target, right up until the very end - and what an ending it is! It'll send shivers up your spine, and the images will linger in your head long after the show is over. The dark, moody photography is top-notch, although the rambunctious jazz score wears out its welcome.