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I Want to Live!

I Want to Live!

Drama · Crime · 1958

Brazen perpetual offender Barbara Graham tries to go straight but she finds herself implicated in a murder and sent to death row.

Movie details

I Want to Live!

“The murder trial that shook the world!”

1958 Drama · Crime 2h 0m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.9 / 10

Community rating

Brazen perpetual offender Barbara Graham tries to go straight but she finds herself implicated in a murder and sent to death row.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over I Want to Live!?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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John McVicar was a London Bad Boy. he graduated to armed bank robbery and was Britain's "Public Enemy No. 1". He was captured and put into a high security prison. Will even the highest security prison be able to hold him? This is the true story of his life, his criminal exploits and his eventual rehabilitation.

The United States of Leland

The United States of Leland

Crime · 2003

A withdrawn young man, Leland Fitzgerald is imprisoned for the murder of a mentally disabled boy, who also happened to be the brother of his girlfriend, Becky. As the community struggles to deal with the killing, Pearl Madison, a teacher at the prison, decides to write about Leland's case. Meanwhile, others affected by the murder, including Becky and her sister, Julie, must contend with their own problems.

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile

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Infamous

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True Story

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No Man of God

No Man of God

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The complicated relationship that formed between the FBI analyst Bill Hagmaier and serial killer Ted Bundy during Bundy's final years on death row.

The Mustang

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While participating in a rehabilitation program training wild mustangs, a convict at first struggles to connect with the horses and his fellow inmates, but he learns to confront his violent past as he soothes an especially feisty horse.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Robert Wise

Written by

Nelson Gidding · Don Mankiewicz · Ed Montgomery

Susan Hayward

Susan Hayward

Barbara Graham

Simon Oakland

Simon Oakland

Edward S. 'Ed' Montgomery

Virginia Vincent

Virginia Vincent

Peg

Theodore Bikel

Theodore Bikel

Carl G.G. Palmberg

Wesley Lau

Wesley Lau

Henry L. Graham

Philip Coolidge

Philip Coolidge

Emmett Perkins

Lou Krugman

Lou Krugman

John R. 'Jack' Santo

Court is in session

Put I Want to Live! on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.