Masterful Movie

Boring

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

. . . begins "Babs'" tirade in open court about 58:20 into I WANT TO LIVE! This kind of perked up the curiosity of "Rocky," my viewing partner, and myself. What WAS "the rest of the story" to Babs' Real Life HANDMAID'S TALE-like public shaming and execution? Rocky decided to research the epilogue to Babs' woeful wrecking, after his survey of the Internets showed that no one had yet put all the relevant facts together in one place. As it turns out, Babs' Courtroom Curse was pretty potent. In July, 1955 (the month after she got offed in San Quentin) "Ben-the-Crooked-Cop" who framed Babs for murder got crushed by a garbage truck making a left turn while on motorcycle patrol. In September of that year, "Rita" the jailhouse snitch, was struck dead by lightning while enjoying her undeserved freedom on a swimsuit-optional beach. (This was literally a "bolt out of the blue," since there was only one tiny cloud in an otherwise azure sky.) "What about 'Bruce'? you ask. Three weeks after Rita got fried, this Real Killer turned "State's Evidence" was decapitated by a flying piece of Quonset hut during a windstorm. Later Babs' "Gassing Judge" slipped on an icy patch in his garage Up North Christmas Eve, dying of carbon monoxide poisoning from his still-running car. Though the San Quentin warden was fatally shanked during the New Year's Day Prison Uprising, his two chief chemists were spared from any harm THAT day. You see, they were already lying stone cold dead on slabs in a Bavarian mortuary, killed by a faulty heater in the chalet where they were staying to gain insights on "fine tuning" the Golden State's efforts to emulate the Third Reich. Last, but not least, California Gov. "Gipper the Terminator" (who'd denied Babs' final plea for a mere carriage of justice) was melted down with "Jim Hoffa," of course, in a vat of molten metal.

After watching "The Green Mile", "Monsters Ball", and "Dead Man Walking" I was pretty much convinced that Capital Punishment is beyond evolved societies. This film supported my belief only during the final moments that illustrated very precisely how to prepare a gas chamber for a death sentence. Fascinating, but looks like a decent way to go vs Chemo/Radiation for years.I am not a fan of Hayward and her histrionic performance did not lend well to portraying an innocent woman. The incessant cacophony of avant garde jazz only distracted from the capture of a fallen woman who went way astray in life. I know there are innocents in prison, on death row, etc., but this one-sided operation annoyed me more than instigate sympathy.I cannot recommend this film due to the poor performance of Hayward who supposedly was not a heroin addict but surely acted like one. Too many elements of the film were incongruous. With the strong emphasis on how this is based on actual facts, letters, discussions by a newspaper sensationalist headliner only debased the content vs enhance.If you are on the fence about the Death Penaly watch the three films aforementioned.

"I Want To Live!" is an incredibly powerful drama about a woman who was found guilty of murder in the early 1950s. The events depicted are claimed to be factual and the convicted murderess is portrayed as the innocent victim of a flawed judicial system which found her guilty because of her lack of credibility as a witness, her previous criminal behaviour and the testimony of other criminals who had their own ulterior motives. The lack of hard evidence against her makes the outcome of the trial seem to be a travesty and this plays into the strong position that this movie takes against the use of capital punishment.Following the failure of her third marriage, Barbara "Bonnie" Graham (Susan Hayward) who'd been involved in petty crime throughout her life, returns to work with one of her previous bosses Emmett Perkins (Philip Coolidge). She's unaware that Perkins and his associates John Santo (Lou Krugman) and Bruce King (James Philbrook) had recently carried out an attempted robbery during which an elderly widow called Mabel Monahan had been pistol-whipped to death. It comes as a great surprise, therefore, when she, Perkins and Santo are arrested by the police and charged with involvement in the old lady's murder.Despite her protestations of innocence, Graham becomes the prime suspect after Perkins, Santo and King all claim that she was responsible for the killing. Perkins and Santo think that if she's convicted, it will reduce their chances of being sentenced to death and King is granted immunity for turning state's evidence. Graham is subsequently found guilty of murder and is sentenced to be executed at San Quentin prison. A whole series of appeals and stays of execution then follow as every effort is made to prevent Graham's sentence from being carried out.Barbara Graham is depicted as a sympathetic character who, as the product of a broken home, had known no other way of life than being involved with the criminal fraternity. Her various convictions provide evidence of her reprehensible lifestyle but her propensity to eschew self-interest to help others (as she does in the circumstances which result in her being found guilty of prostitution and perjury) is also shown as a redeeming quality. Similarly, the circumstances under which she's tricked into incriminating herself by a fellow prison inmate and an undercover police officer are also conveyed as being just as odious as the way in which she was betrayed by her criminal associates.Judged purely on its merits as a drama, "I Want To Live!" is top class and Robert Wise's direction is terrific as so much pace is injected into the early part of the movie and then later it slows down very effectively as the tension intensifies when the story's conclusion approaches. Susan Hayward's Oscar-winning performance is also integral to the film's success because so much of the focus is on her throughout. Her ability to capture her character's range of emotions and behaviours at different stages of her life is flawless and a considerable achievement by any standards.

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.