Review of I Want to Live! (1958) by Les E — 22 Jul 2014

When I first saw this, it didn't thrill me. Upon a second viewing, I recognized a higher quality. This is still the only film I've seen starring Susan Hayward. As "bloody Babs, the tiger woman" she gives a wild and snarky performance.

Some elements of the movie are strictly from the style of its decade. However, Robert Wise leads the cast and crew to make a film that is ahead of its time in many ways. In the background you see the teen culture emerging.

You see the hounding press and public spectacle, not only by newspaper men, but through the new medium of television coverage too. There's a small number of recognizable character actor faces supporting Susan Hayward, but mostly the cast seems to consist of New York theater actors.

The jazz soundtrack is amazing and really boosts the camera work with some of its jazzy angles. Wise did in depth research of what death row was like. The final quarter of the movie, when Barbara Graham is awaiting her execution is almost documentary-like.

It gets dull with all the waiting. It is torturous to Barbara as her lawyer seeks appeals and is repeatedly granted stays of execution. Perhaps it is the feeling the director was going for, but it is nearly as torturous to the audience watching the minutes tick by without closure of one kind or another.

Our antihero had committed a lot of crime in her time, but was she guilty of murder? And is capital punishment the right solution? The movie gives you many things to think about, but doesn't give you clear answers.