Monday Morning Maybe

Add your email and we'll match picks to the services you stream at home.

Poster for I Want to Live!

I Want to Live!

Seen it?

1958 | 120 min | Drama, Crime

Friday Night Flickearly rating

Why it’s a Friday Night Flick

Critics loved it (94% on Rotten Tomatoes) and it won an Oscar. Make plans for this one.

Based on critics, audiences, awards, box office and buzz. Details below.

Is it for you?

Who'll love it
Made for crime-drama fans. If you loved Just Mercy or Strangers on a Train, start here. Critics rate it higher than audiences do, so it rewards patience more than it chases thrills.
The mood
Dark and gritty.
The pace
Takes its time with its characters, at 2 hr.
What might put you off
  • Made in 1958: an older pace and style.
  • Audiences were cooler on it than critics.

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

How it earned its rating

  • CriticsVery strong

    94% on Rotten Tomatoes

  • AudiencesSolid

    7.0 out of 10

  • AwardsVery strong

    Won 1 Oscar: Academy Awards: Best Actress. Won 1 Golden Globe: Golden Globe Awards: Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama. Also nominated for 6 more Oscars, 2 more Golden Globes and 1 BAFTA. Plus 4 other awards.

  • Reach & staying powerBelow par

    Streaming release that reached a small audience so far; still draws a steady audience long after release

  • Buzz & cultural impactSolid

    About 73K people sought it out in the past year

Trailer

More like this

Want more like this, picked just for you? Get my picks

Cast & crew

Directed by Robert Wise

  • Susan HaywardBarbara Graham
  • Simon OaklandEdward S. 'Ed' Montgomery
  • Virginia VincentPeg
  • Theodore BikelCarl G.G. Palmberg
  • Wesley LauHenry L. Graham
  • Philip CoolidgeEmmett Perkins
  • Lou KrugmanJohn R. 'Jack' Santo
  • James PhilbrookBruce King
  • Bartlett RobinsonDistrict Attorney Milton
  • Gage ClarkeAttorney Richard G. Tibrow