I Want to Live! (1958) Review

I Want to Live! (1958)

cinema

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My Review

Susan Hayward delivers what is perhaps the best performance of her career in “I Want to Live!” The Academy Award for Best Actress was awarded to Hayward for her riveting portrayal of accused murderer Barbara Graham. She is in virtually every scene, capturing the audience’s collective attention in what can only be described as a tour-de-force.

Oscar nods went to Robert Wise (Best Director), Best Screenplay (Dan Mankiewicz, Nelson Gidding), Best Film Editing, Best Sound, and Best Cinematography/Black and White (Lionel Linden). This true story and biopic benefited from tight direction by Wise and the smartly written screenplay were based on a series of newspaper articles by Ed Montgomery of the San Francisco Examiner.

The very listenable jazz soundtrack was scored by John Mandel. Co-stars with Susan Hayward are Simon Oakland, Virginia Vincent, Theodore Bikel, Wesley Lau, Philip Coolidge, Raymond Bailey, Marion Marshall, Gavid MacLeod (in his movie debut), and television reporter George Putnam as himself. “I Want to Live!” was successful at the box office for producer Walter Wanger, Figaro Inc., and United Artists. Miss Hayward was entitled to 37% of the film’s gross profit.

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