Overview
A woman caught in a web of deceit fights for her life against a corrupt system.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- grim
- harrowing
- realistic
- classic cinema night
- social justice discussion
What critics said
Critics broadly praised Susan Hayward's complex, Oscar-winning performance and Robert Wise's gripping realistic direction while recognizing the film as a powerful indictment of capital punishment.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The death-row progression and clinical execution sequence function as an explicit indictment of capital punishment.
Barbara Graham is introduced through her precarious life in seedy bars and is judged both for alleged crimes and her moral reputation.
Robert Wise's direction and the film's clinical treatment of arrest, trial, imprisonment, and execution create a sharp, harrowing realist style.
Barbara's dubious reputation and association with two murderers make the accusation against her appear credible to investigators.
Films like I Want to Live!, and why
Dead Man Walking
shared biographical crime drama, capital punishment critique, and harrowing prison atmosphere
The Wrong Man
shared courtroom and death-row drama centered on disputed guilt and institutional injustice
Caged
shared stark prison setting, procedural realism, and critique of dehumanizing punishment
In Cold Blood
shared true-crime drama, morally compromised protagonist, and intense execution-focused realism
Movie Details
- Director
- Robert Wise
- Release Date
- 1958-11-18
- Runtime
- 120 min
- Rating
- 7.0 / 10 (122)
Cast
- Susan Hayward
- Simon Oakland
- Virginia Vincent
- Theodore Bikel
- Wesley Lau
- Philip Coolidge
- Lou Krugman
- James Philbrook
- Bartlett Robinson
- Gage Clarke
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- YouTube TV, ScreenPix Apple TV channel, ScreenPix Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is I Want to Live! about?
- A morally disreputable woman is condemned for a murder she insists she did not commit, turning her final ordeal into a devastating challenge to capital punishment.
- What is I Want to Live! like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of I Want to Live! as brisk, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as layered.
- Is I Want to Live! violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in I Want to Live! as moderate.
- What did critics think of I Want to Live!?
- Critics broadly praised Susan Hayward's complex, Oscar-winning performance and Robert Wise's gripping realistic direction while recognizing the film as a powerful indictment of capital punishment.
- Which films are like I Want to Live!?
- Films with a similar feel include Dead Man Walking, The Wrong Man, Caged, and In Cold Blood.
- How long is I Want to Live!?
- I Want to Live! runs 120 minutes.
- Where can I watch I Want to Live!?
- In United States, I Want to Live! streams on YouTube TV, ScreenPix Apple TV channel, ScreenPix Amazon Channel .
