![]() A Supreme Court stay gives her hope that her sentence may be commuted, but it is overturned when Carl dies unexpectedly of heart disease. As her execution date draws near, Barbara grows increasingly anxious. Journalist Edward Montgomery, who has covered Barbara's case all along, questions her conviction and publishes a sympathetic series of articles describing her troubled life. He also observes that she is left-handed, and the murder was committed by a right-handed person. After visiting with her, Carl states that while Barbara appears to be amoral, she is averse to violence. Matthews has psychologist Carl Palmberg evaluate Barbara, hoping to ultimately administer a lie detection test. In prison, Barbara is relentlessly defiant, refusing to wear her uniform and demanding a radio. Tibrow withdraws from Barbara's case and is replaced by Al Matthews. She is ultimately convicted, along with Emmett and John, and all three are sentenced to death. Barbara insists that she sought the false alibi only to avoid the death penalty, and that her admission is false. At the trial, it is revealed that Ben is a police officer who recorded her confession with a hidden microphone during their meeting. Barbara furtively concocts a phony alibi with Ben Miranda, supposedly a friend of a fellow prisoner. Barbara's childhood friend Peg visits her in jail and agrees to help care for Bobby.Īttorney Richard Tibrow is assigned to Barbara's case and informs her that her alibi is meaningless unless Hank can corroborate it. Barbara insists that she was home with her husband and son on the night of the murder but is indicted by a grand jury. During the interrogation, she is stunned when authorities accuse her of helping Perkins and Santo murder Mabel Monahan, an elderly Burbank woman. Police crack down on the operation and Barbara surrenders. Desperate, she leaves Bobby in the care of her mother and returns to working for Emmett, who is now associated with thugs John Santo and Bruce King. ![]() The couple have a son, Bobby, but their marriage is in turmoil because of Hank's gambling addiction and physical abuse.īarbara forces Hank to leave, but she is soon evicted from her apartment. Barbara manages to earn a significant amount of money, and quits working for Emmett to marry Hank, her third husband. She subsequently returns to prostitution and other criminal activities to make a living and begins working for thief Emmett Perkins by luring men to his gambling parlor. She returns to her native San Diego, but is soon charged with perjury after she provides two criminal friends a false alibi. In 1950 San Francisco, petty criminal and prostitute Barbara Graham faces a misdemeanor charge for soliciting sex. The film earned a total of six Academy Award nominations, with Hayward winning a Best Actress Oscar at the 31st Academy Awards as well as the Golden Globe Award in the same category. Released in late 1958, I Want to Live! was a commercial and critical success, garnering favorable reviews from critics for Hayward's performance as well as the film's realistic depiction of capital punishment. The film presents a highly fictionalized version of the case, indicating the possibility that Graham may have been innocent. The screenplay, written by Nelson Gidding and Don Mankiewicz, was adapted from personal letters written by Graham in addition to newspaper articles written by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ed Montgomery. It follows the life of Barbara Graham, a prostitute and habitual criminal who is convicted of murder and faces capital punishment. ![]() I Want to Live! is a 1958 American biographical film noir directed by Robert Wise and starring Susan Hayward, Simon Oakland, Virginia Vincent and Theodore Bikel.
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