kvg-56864 Loved Susan Hayward's work and the famous jazz musicians in the opening scenes. But, you need to read court records and the account of the LAPD lead investigator if you care about what really happened. This movie is largely a fictional account, written and produced by people against capital punishment. Which is fine--we have freedom of speech here. Freedom for Hollywood to pass off fiction as truth, and freedom for me to call them out on it. Two examples of unnecessary fictionalizing in an attempt to gain public sympathy for the anti death penalty movement: 1. She certainly wasn't going to visit her baby when they caught up with her--she was going after a fix. They knew her main drug supplier and had him under surveillance. They followed her back to the hideout from a drug score. 2. When the main LAPD investigator reached the hideout, there was no scene with people and spotlights out in the parking lot. It was a surprise bust--they forced the door and found Barbara and one of the two male gang members naked. Neither one a big deal, bust just examples to show you how full of chit the plot was.

Mark Turner Times have certainly changed for the most part. The world of the 24/7 news cycle has led to constant coverage of news stories and murder tales in particular. When a suspect is announced we are presented non-stop with information about that person from their earliest moments until their capture. Many have an opinion on their guilt before they even go to trial. I would imagine it would make it difficult to find an impartial jury.I WANT TO LIVE is the true story of Barbara Graham, a woman whose life was far from perfect and filled with wrong choices early on and who was sentenced to death in the gas chamber in 1955. While the movie doesn't talk about her upbringing we find it opening with her as a party girl, a woman who lives life like there is no tomorrow. Within moments of the credits finishing she is arrested for prostitution. Not long after she finds herself convicted of perjury.Released from prison she's determined to go straight. She meets Henry, they marry and have a child. But Harry is a junkie, more concerned with drugs than his family. Faced with losing her home and her child Barbara returns to her old ways, working in card games helping cheat marks out of their money. She gets involved with two criminals only to be arrested alongside them by the police. The charge is murder.While we never see what transpired it seems that Barbara gained access for the group into the home of 64 year old Mabel Monohan, an elderly widow who supposedly had a large amount of cash on hand in her home. During the course of the robbery she was murdered. Now the men arrested place her death solely at the hands of Barbara.What follows is the back and forth in the story of Graham. We're presented with her love of her child, wanting him to grow up and to be there with him. We see the legal system as it does its best to ignore her upbringing and convict her on the evidence provided in seemingly unscrupulous ways (such as being set up by fellow inmate). The toll it takes on Graham as each appeal is built up and then lost is also on view.The highest amount of tension in the film takes place in the last 30 minutes or so as Barbara is about to head to the gas chamber. Each appeal sent is met with denial, and yet the appeals continue, the stays of execution continue and it isn't until the very last moment that we see Barbara Graham face the gas chamber on her own.The movie is played for sympathy towards the character of Barbara Graham while at the same time showing her as a semi-floozy, a woman of lose morals who likes a good party, a good time and cares little about answering for her actions. When she becomes a mother and attempts to lead a straight life, life once again throws her to the curb. All of this is done in an attempt to make us feel the death penalty was too harsh a judgement for Graham. This may end up making the movie one of the first activist films made involving that penalty.What it doesn't do is show us what happened to Mabel Monohan. The murder of Monohan is discussed but never shown. The pistol whipping of Monohan is discussed once and then ignored. The few criticisms of the movie since its release have involved that fact, that Graham was actually guilty of the murder of Monohan but that the film presented it as if there was a chance she didn't do it. Evidence presented then and gone over again since have proved otherwise.Director Robert Wise does a good job at telling the story of Graham in the way that the screenwriters wanted though. He gets great performances from all involved. This movie resulted in an Oscar win for Susan Hayward in the role of Graham. For myself I thought it was a bit overdone. That may be because the script calls for her to scream and rant far too often where a more subtle touch might have left me more sympathetic. Touches of stylistic efforts by Wise are also seen on hand and to be enjoyed. And the soundtrack should be a delight for fans of jazz music from the fifties, littered with notables from that time.Twilight Time has done their usual excellent job of producing the best picture you can find on blu-ray for this film. Extras are fairly limited here though to an isolated score track with audio commentary segment by Robert Wise associate Mike Matessino and the original theatrical trailer. As with all of their titles it is limited to just 3,000 copies on hand so if you're interested make sure to pick one up before they're gone.

gavin6942 Barbara Graham (1923-1955) 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 murder an older woman. When they get caught they start to think that Barbara has helped the police to arrest them. As revenge they tell the police that Barbara is the murderer.I was not familiar with the Barbara Graham case. I suppose I should say I am still not, at least not enough to compare the film to reality. So on that count, I have no opinion.But as a film in itself, this is great work. I can see the Oscar award was well-deserved. What I liked best, in fact, was how Graham was portrayed not necessarily as sympathetic. Innocent or not, she is coarse and rough around the edges. I appreciate they didn't make her seem too nice.

HerrDoktorMabuse This is a perfect example of a bad performance that turns into an award winner. I have nothing against Susan Hayward, but bellowing and shrieking at high volume is not great acting by any stretch, although frequently confused as such.The rest of the movie, nifty and cool atmosphere, with crazy camera angles and an uncompromising jazz soundtrack to delight any latter day hipster. You can also see the anti-death penalty propaganda from a mile away, although it's easy to understand from the evidence as presented why a jury, judge and the decisive legal system of the day would have her and her buddies on the express to San Quentin. Nothing wrong with propaganda--movies were made for it and it's a highly respected genre when done effectively.The movie is also interesting as it mixes four genres into one--film noir, "women's picture," liberal guilt string puller, andprison movie. There's some very interesting interplay between the 50's home and hearth lifestyle and the deviantly criminal. Here's there's no middle ground between fulfilling domesticity and a sordid life of crime. One slip, and they're carefully wrapping the cyanide in cheesecloth just for you.