Susan Hayward really knew how to pick a good role. From the intensity of 1947's "Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman", to the gutsiness of 1955's "I'll Cry Tomorrow", to everything in between, Hayward left a legacy of amazing characters. Even when the role was horrid (such as 1967's trash-fest "Valley of the Dolls"), Hayward was a real trooper and made it work. Always one to tackle unusual and, oftentimes, unglamorous roles, Hayward really got a chance to sink her teeth into this one - and received an Oscar for her efforts.

In this tough-to-take biopic, Hayward plays Barbara Graham, a party girl who gets in over her head with drug use, prostitution, perjury, and various other illegal acts. As a known "goodtime girl", she has a reputation with the local authorities. One brilliant sequence has the police tracking Barbara across town - apparent fellow neighbors are actually tapped and following her every move. Finally, a supposedly innocent "Babs" gets thrown in the slammer for the brutal murder of an elderly woman. Losing her sense of freedom and any contact with her baby boy, Barbara's life goes from bad (on the street) to worse (in jail). Watching Barbara act-up and defy authority in the prison is actually funny, but what happens next to this wild woman is no laughing matter. Things get as bad as they possibly can when Barbara realizes that she may have to face the gas chamber.

Hayward goes all out in portraying this fascinating character and is totally over-the-top, but completely on target, right up until the very end - and what an ending it is! It'll send shivers up your spine, and the images will linger in your head long after the show is over. The dark, moody photography is top-notch, although the rambunctious jazz score wears out its welcome.

Loved Susan Hayward's work and the famous jazz musicians in the opening scenes. But, you need to read court records and the account of the LAPD lead investigator if you care about what really happened. This movie is largely a fictional account, written and produced by people against capital punishment. Which is fine--we have freedom of speech here. Freedom for Hollywood to pass off fiction as truth, and freedom for me to call them out on it. Two examples of unnecessary fictionalizing in an attempt to gain public sympathy for the anti death penalty movement: 1. She certainly wasn't going to visit her baby when they caught up with her--she was going after a fix. They knew her main drug supplier and had him under surveillance. They followed her back to the hideout from a drug score. 2. When the main LAPD investigator reached the hideout, there was no scene with people and spotlights out in the parking lot. It was a surprise bust--they forced the door and found Barbara and one of the two male gang members naked. Neither one a big deal, bust just examples to show you how full of chit the plot was.

Many people recognize Susan Hayward as a great actress but if you ask them in what movie they thought she was remarkable, they'll usually tell you that they can't remember any particular classic in which she played. They'll tell you that they think she is a great actress for all the movies and roles in her career. Let's face it. She never played in a classic. There isn't one movie on AFI's top 100 list that stares her. But if you ask anybody what her best performance was, anybody will answer that it was her role as Barbara Graham in "I want to live". Sure the movie's not a classic. But she totally deserved the best actress Oscar she won for her role in it.

Barbara Graham (Hayward) is a tough, wisecracking prostitute. A real party-girl. Even when she gets arrested for murder, she keeps on joking around and p***ing-off the cops. But when she realizes that this thing is going to court and that if she's convicted, she could be executed in the gas-chamber, she doesn't see things the same way anymore. And when she thinks she has found a man that is willing to testify that she was with him on the night of the murder, he gets her to tell him that she was present at the scene of the crime. She tells him all this. But when he is summoned in court, he is the prosecution's witness and he appears to be a cop who has trapped her into telling all the evidence the prosecution needs to convict her.

Robert Wise's directing is pretty good but the two things that make this one worth watching are the music and Hayward's performance. John Mandel's choice of the blues for the music is excellent and allows us to hang on with Barbara until her very last second alive. Be forewarned: This one is 100% of a tear-jerker and requires nerves of steel to make it through the whole thing without crying. If you like Hayward, see it at all costs. However, Robert Wise has directed some better ones like "West side story" for example. But still, it's pretty good.