I Want to Live!

I Want to Live! is a 1958 film noir produced by Walter Wanger and directed by Robert Wise which tells the heavily fictionalized story of a woman, Barbara Graham, convicted of murder and facing execution. It stars Susan Hayward as Graham, and also features Simon Oakland, Stafford Repp, and Theodore Bikel. The movie was adapted from letters written by Graham and newspaper articles written by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ed Montgomery. The film earned Hayward a Best Actress Oscar at the 31st Academy Awards. The film tells the story of the life and execution of Barbara Graham a prostitute,... drug addict, and convicted perjurer. Graham is the product of a broken home, and works luring men into fixed card games. At one point, she attempts to go straight but marries the "wrong man," and has a child. When her life falls apart, she returns to her former professions and gets involved in a murder. She claims her innocence, but is convicted and executed. The cast includes: A prologue and epilogue contributed to the film by Montgomery characterize the film's content — which largely portrays Graham as innocent of the murder — as factual.
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