I Want to Live! (1958)

An absolute waste of money

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Just like the phony and 1/4 truth "Birdman of Alcatraz", "I Want to Live" is Hollywood trying to preach to the simple citizen type Americans.I guess every generation needs to learn just how corrupt and political Hollywood is. They have no room to preach about Morals.Barbara Graham was not only was guilty of Murder by being involved in conspiring to rob Mabel Monohan, she personally murdered the elderly women. The Jury Says So!This is Hollywood's Statement on the horrors of the Death Penalty. I may agree with them, but lying to the American people and the world doesn't help. The Truth Will Out and you end up hurting the cause.Now to the movie, it is actually well done and Hayward certainly deserved her Academy Award. I have been a Simon Oakland fan all my life and this is very first. The other Reviewers covered the excellent acting and riveting ending.. Gripping is my word for the final 1/2hr.Just remember, Hollywood is filled with disgusting rotten people just like any other business. It is just when them businesses try and preach to Us simple folk how we should vote and causes we should support that they overstep. They Should best Keep Their Mouth Shut and just entertain us.

There is little that I could add to the other reviews and, if you read them, most will attest to the power of "I Want to Live". This is a jarring, harrowing film from the acting to the jazz score. It is brutally honest in its sordid and ugly depictions of the seedier side of American life - the lowlifes, junkies, "goodtime girls", small-time crims and even a family man taking a walk on the wild side in the opening scene. The preparations and procedures related to capital punishment are even more chillingly depicted than those of "In Cold Blood". The camera angles and the jazz score add to the uncomfortable and off-kilter events of this other world that most of us know about and sometimes visit but do not inhabit. Lastly, Susan Hayward's performance is shattering. "I Want to Live" is a once seen never forgotten experience.

almost a documentary. cruel, touching, vodka glass. a woman. a justice system. and a verdict - instruments as sleep medicine for consciousness. axis - a great performance of an amazing actress. Susan Hayward does more than a good character. she is Barbara Graham. her look, her nuances of words and gestures are ladder to the heart of case. because, measure is basic value of film. not poetry, not heavy shadows. only a story about a form of guilty out of definitions. a picture from old newspapers and a kind of Don Quijote in a special form. the film is not about innocence or errors. only about life as a collection of hopes. about a war against injustice as respect for law and testimony about presence of a silhouette. details, lights, images. all as pieces of a puzzle. and borders of an ash circle.

We all honor and respect Katharine Hepburn, Greta Garbo, Barbara Stanwyck for their great performances. Each of them especially liked the work of Susan Hayward. As Susan Hayward lay dying of brain cancer none other than Garbo showed up at Susan Haywad's house to pay respects in person! As did Katharine Hepburn and Barbara Stanwyck.Walter Wanger's I Want To Live, in black and white, with a great jazz score and expertly directed by Robert Wise and photographed by Lionel Lindon is the peak of Susan Hayward's acting career. As most actresses and a few stars Susan Hayward had well known "tricks" but for this movie Ms. Hayward played this role as naturally as Susan Hayward ever played any role. Susan Hayward dominates this movie and is brilliant in a career noted for great acting. Susan Hayward won the New York Film Critics, National Board of Review, Golden Globe and awards in France and Italy, for her performance in this movie, all leading up to her deserved Oscar win for I Want To Live. Susan Hayward was called back for a curtain call, the only time I can recall that happening for her great win.