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| I Want to Live! | 
 enlarge | Director: Robert Wise
Actors: Susan Hayward, Simon Oakland, Virginia Vincent, Theodore Bikel, Wesley Lau
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy New: $6.16
You Save: $8.82 (59%)
New (54) Used (14) from $5.73
Avg. Customer Rating:  44 reviews
Sales Rank: 11443
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Letterboxed, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 121
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.1 x 0.6
MPN: MGMD1003430D
ISBN: 0792852540
UPC: 027616875792
EAN: 9780792852544
ASIN: B000062XEZ
Theatrical Release Date: November 18, 1958
Release Date: May 7, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new Factory Sealed DVDs ***100% GUARANTEED!!!***
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| Customer Reviews:
 I Want to Live! December 28, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is THE movie to see of Susan Hayward, in her peak of perfection as an actress. She felt the story strongly and wanted to play this woman, whose fate was so tenuous. Hayward did it beautifully. A must see!
Hayward DOESN'T Overact--Some of You Are Emotionally Dead October 11, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Those reviewers who describe Susan Hayward's magnificent performance in this movie as "overacting" remind me of something that happened to me several years ago at my job. I'd made friends with a new co-worker who was a generation younger than me (he was in his early twenties). When he mentioned that he loved movies, I asked him if he'd ever seen one of my all-time favorites, "I Want to Live!" He said he hadn't, so I lent him my copy.
A few days later, when he returned it, I asked what he thought. He rolled his eyes. "Talk about fifties overacting!"
I said, "Guess what? She was going to the gas chamber. What was she supposed to do? Mutter, 'Bummer?'"
And so I say to similar reviewers, you don't have to like Hayward's performance or even the movie. But I can assure you, Hayward was spot-on in showing what it would have felt like to go through what Graham did.
Gloria Swanson's silent-film star character in "Sunset Boulevard" says at one point about the era in which her movies were made, "We had faces then." I can say about the era in which "I Want to Live!" was made--"We had feelings then--and we weren't too 'cool' to SHOW them."
Innocent or Guilty September 8, 2007
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
When this movie was released, I was a senior in High School. After going to see the movie in a theatre, I went to the library and looked up the articles pertaining to Barbara Graham. I still think she was innocent. The movie was great and I will never forget this story.
 Great Performance - Worth a Look August 21, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Susan Hayward gives a dazzling performance in this dark film and is supported by an outstanding cast. A must for all Film Noir fans! Definitely worth seeing.
Going the Wrong Way January 6, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
This film is based on a factual story from Ed Montgomery, a reporter for the `San Francisco Chronicle'. It shows a jazz club, later a vice cop shows up and arrests Babs. We see Babs dancing at a party, later she agrees to provide an alibi for two crooks; This leads to a perjury conviction. She is given good advice to correct her behavior; but she doesn't listen. Babs tries to live a normal life, but her husband used drugs and things go bad. Babs hooks up with her old buddies. [The film skips over the Monahan murder; was Babs a decoy?] The police trail Babs and catch the two murderers. Barbara Graham acts tough and hard-boiled, and refuses to cooperate with the police when offered a deal. She is indicted along with the others for the murder of Mrs. Monahan. A lawyer advises her about the forthcoming trial, she needs an alibi. Babs foolishly trusts another inmate, a friendly stranger, to arrange an alibi. In desperation she agrees to cooperate with this stranger. [No warning about Miranda.]
The state's witness was part of the gang, but he will testify against the others and then be released for his testimony. That stranger turns out to be an undercover policeman; Babs' goose is cooked. Babs' letter to her husband was intercepted; he is no help. They are all convicted and sentenced to death. Barbara is sent to the woman's prison, "the campus". A psychiatrist evaluates Babs, and thinks she did not commit the murder. (Babs is left-handed and could not have struck the victim with her right hand.) He advises Ed Montgomery to write stories that will present Babs in a better light. Babs' appeal is turned down. Her hope is raised by a Supreme Court appeal, but that is rejected. Babs' case sells a lot of newspapers, win or lose.
Babs is transported to San Quentin for execution of her sentence. She is prepared for death. Her lawyer files another petition, and keeps trying. The preparation of the gas chamber begins. Babs will go first, followed by the two men. Tension mounts as the Governor grants a stay to let her lawyer make his appeal. But it is not allowed. The witnesses gather around the gas chamber. Then its time. Babs last request is for a mask; she doesn't want to see the strangers there. The film shows the graphic details of her death.
Susan Hayward deservedly won the highest Hollywood award for her acting in this drama. The undertones of this story is to question the death penalty as it was applied to Babs. The improvements in scientific testing and other reforms might have saved Babs today (if she was not involved). Do newspapers and broadcast media still present a one-sided view of a suspect? Even after the Supreme Court ruling on "Shepard vs. Ohio"? Newspapers are no longer a locally operated business today. The warning in this film is to be careful of who you hang out with. Those who need this advice will ignore it.
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