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I Want to Live!
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I Want to Live! is a 1958 film which tells the "true" story of a woman, Barbara Graham, accused of murder, who faces execution. It stars 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.
It won the Academy Award for Best Actress, and nominated for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Sound and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.
Despite the epilog 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 little-known but well-loved classic, and earned actress Susan Hayward her first and only Oscar. The film is incredibly moving, and the last ten minutes have been described as "the most eloquent plea against the death penalty you will ever see."
I Want to Live! was remade for television in 1983. It starred Lindsay Wagner, Martin Balsam, Pamela Reed, Harry Dean Stanton, Dana Elcar, Ellen Geer, Robert Ginty and Barry Primus.
Trivia
As Graham is being strapped in the chair, she is advised to breathe out when she hears the pellets drop, then take one deep breath 'because it's easier that way'. She replies 'How do
you know!' This scene was cut by the UK censor.
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