I Want to Live! (1958) is a drama film noir directed by Robert Wise which tells the "true" story of a woman, Barbara Graham, convicted of murder and facing execution. It features Susan Hayward, Simon Oakland, Stafford Repp, and Theodore Bikel. The movie was adapted from articles written by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ed Montgomery based on letters written by Ms. Graham. It was produced by Walter Wanger and directed by Robert Wise.
Despite the epiloge at the end of the film by Ed Montgomery that the film was factual - largely portraying Graham as innocent - there was substantial evidence to the fact that she was complicit in the murder. Hayward herself told Robert Osborne her research led her to conclude that Graham was guilty.
Despite this, the film has endured as a modest but well loved classic, earning Hayward her only Oscar.
The movie tells the story of a woman who struggles and fights to escape the gas chamber being condemned with capital punishment because of her participation in a hold up in which a person was killed. Written by Volker Boehm
Barbara Graham is a woman with dubious moral standards, often a guest in seedy bars. She has been sentenced for some petty crimes. Two men she knows murders an older woman. When they get caught they start to think that Barbara has helped the police arresting them. As a revenge they tell the police that Barbara is the murderer. Written by Mattias Thuresson
