Editing I Want to Live! (section)

==Release==
===Box office===
Although some sources state that the film grossed $3.5 million,{{sfn|Cairns|2013|p=123}} the [[Walter Wanger]] biography ''Walter Wanger, Hollywood Independent'' indicated that the film grossed $5,641,711, with a net profit of $2,455,570.{{sfn|Bernstein|2000|p=446}} Hayward was entitled to 37% of the film's overall profit.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.archive.org/stream/variety212-1958-11#page/n152/mode/1up|page=5|title=Susan Hayward|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=November 12, 1958|via=[[Archive.org]]}}</ref>

===Critical response===
[[File:Susan Hayward - 1959 Oscar-1.jpg|thumb|right|upright=.9|Hayward received an [[Academy Awards|Oscar]] for her portrayal of Barbara Graham.]]
Upon release, ''I Want to Live!'' was met with a largely favorable critical response, with many critics heralding the film as an "indictment against capital punishment," citing its clinical, harrowing depiction of execution.{{sfn|Cairns|2013|p=120}} Producer [[Walter Wanger]] received numerous congratulatory letters praising the film after its release, including those from writers [[Arthur Miller]], [[Paddy Chayefsky]], [[Leon Uris]] and [[Albert Camus]], all of whom were ardent opponents of capital punishment.{{sfn|Cairns|2013|p=121}}

''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' magazine published a favorable review: "There is no attempt to gloss the character of Barbara Graham, only an effort to understand it through some fine irony and pathos. She had no hesitation about indulging in any form of crime or vice that promised excitement on her own, rather mean, terms ... Hayward brings off this complex characterization. Simon Oakland, as Montgomery, who first crucified Barbara Graham in print and then attempted to undo what he had done, underplays his role with assurance."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://variety.com/1957/film/reviews/i-want-to-live-1200419124/ |title=I Want to Live! |magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=December 31, 1957|access-date=March 24, 2008 |author=<!--Not stated-->}}</ref>

Film critic [[Bosley Crowther]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote: "Miss Hayward plays it superbly, under the consistently sharp direction of Robert Wise, who has shown here a stunning mastery of the staccato realistic style. From a loose and wise-cracking B-girl she moves onto levels of cold disdain and then plunges down to depths of terror and bleak surrender as she reaches the end. Except that the role does not present us a precisely pretty character, its performance merits for Miss Hayward the most respectful applause."<ref name="nyt58">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1958/11/19/archives/vivid-performance-by-susan-hayward-actress-stars-in-i-want-to-live.html|last=Crowther| first=Bosley|author-link=Bosley Crowther|work=[[The New York Times]]|title= Vivid Performance by Susan Hayward; Actress Stars in ''I Want to Live''|date=November 19, 1958|access-date=March 24, 2008}}</ref>

Gene Blake, the reporter who covered the actual murder trial for the ''[[Los Angeles Mirror|Los Angeles Daily Mirror]]'', called the film "a dramatic and eloquent piece of propaganda for the abolition of the death penalty."<ref>{{cite news|last=Blake|first=Gene|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedailymirror/2008/11/barbara-graham.html|title=Barbara Graham case revisited, November 28, 1958|date=November 28, 1958|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Mirror|Los Angeles Daily Mirror]]|via=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=July 19, 2018}}</ref>

By March 1959, ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' noted that the popularity of the film and of Mandel's and Mulligan's albums "prompted a rush of jazz film scores" and cited as examples [[Duke Ellington]]'s score for ''[[Anatomy of a Murder]]'', the release of ''[[The Five Pennies]]'' (a biopic about the jazz band leader [[Red Nichols]]) and the 1960 documentary ''[[Jazz on a Summer's Day]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine| magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|date=March 9, 1959|page=42|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ux4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA42|title=Late 50s Bid for Posterity Fame as Real 'Jazz Age'|first=June|last=Bundy|access-date=August 11, 2010}}</ref>

In a 1993 reappraisal, film critic [[Danny Peary]] wrote that Hayward is "...the actress of that era [the 1940s and '50s] who most needs rediscovery, and the best film to start with is ''I Want to Live!''."{{sfn|Peary|1993|p=146}}

The review aggregator [[Rotten Tomatoes]] reports a 94% approval rating based on 16 reviews, with an average rating of 7.9/10.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_want_to_live |title=I Want to Live! (1958) |work=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |publisher=[[Fandango Media]]|access-date=November 13, 2022}}</ref>

===Awards and honors===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
! Award
! Year
! Category
! Nominee(s)
! Result
! {{abbr|Ref.|Reference}}
|-
! scope="row" rowspan="6" style="text-align:center;"| [[Academy Awards]]
| rowspan="6"| [[31st Academy Awards|1958]]
| [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]]
| [[Robert Wise]]
| {{nom}}
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan="6"| <ref name="Oscars1958">{{Cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1959|title=The 31st Academy Awards {{!}} 1958|access-date=August 21, 2011|work=[[Academy Awards|Oscars.org]]|publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]]}}</ref>
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]]
| [[Susan Hayward]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay|Best Screenplay – Based on Material from Another Medium]]
| [[Don Mankiewicz]] and [[Nelson Gidding]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography – Black-and-White]]
| [[Lionel Lindon]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Film Editing|Best Film Editing]]
| [[William Hornbeck]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Sound|Best Sound]]
| [[Gordon E. Sawyer]]
| {{nom}}
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;"| [[AFI's 10 Top 10|American Film Institute's 10 Top 10]]
| 2008
| colspan="2"| [[AFI's 10 Top 10#Courtroom drama|Courtroom Drama Film]]
| {{nom}}
| style="text-align:center;"| <ref>{{cite web|url=http://connect.afi.com/site/DocServer/10top10.pdf?docID=381&AddInterest=1781 |title=Official Ballot |format=PDF |access-date=August 19, 2016 |publisher=[[American Film Institute]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716071937/http://connect.afi.com/site/DocServer/10top10.pdf?docID=381&AddInterest=1781 |archive-date=July 16, 2011 |work=[[AFI's 10 Top 10]]}}</ref>
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;"| [[British Academy Film Awards]]
| [[13th British Academy Film Awards|1959]]
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role|Best Foreign Actress]]
| rowspan="2"| Susan Hayward
| {{nom}}
| style="text-align:center;"| <ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[British Academy Film Awards|BAFTA Awards]]|title=Film: Foreign Actress in 1960|url=http://awards.bafta.org/award/1960/film/foreign-actress|archive-date=June 3, 2020|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200603050809/http://awards.bafta.org/award/1960/film/foreign-actress|url-status=live|access-date=June 3, 2020}}</ref>
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;"| [[David di Donatello|David di Donatello Awards]]
| 1959
| [[David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actress|Best Foreign Actress]]
| {{won}}
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;"| [[Directors Guild of America Awards]]
| [[11th Directors Guild of America Awards|1959]]
| [[Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film|Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures]]
| Robert Wise
| {{nom}}
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! scope="row" rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;"| [[Golden Globe Awards]]
| rowspan="3"| [[16th Golden Globe Awards|1959]]
| colspan="2"| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama|Best Motion Picture – Drama]]
| {{nom}}
| rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;"| <ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[Hollywood Foreign Press Association]]|url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/film/i-want-live|title=Golden Globe Awards for 'I Want To Live!'|url-status=live|archive-date=June 3, 2020|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200603050908/https://www.goldenglobes.com/film/i-want-live|access-date=June 3, 2020}}</ref>
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama|Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama]]
| Susan Hayward
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Director|Best Director – Motion Picture]]
| Robert Wise
| {{nom}}
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;"| [[Grammy Awards]]
| [[1st Annual Grammy Awards|1959]]
| [[Grammy Award for Best Sound Track Album or Recording of Original Cast From a Motion Picture or Television|Best Sound Track Album, Dramatic Picture Score or Original Cast]]
| [[Johnny Mandel]]
| {{nom}}
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! scope="row" rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;"| [[Laurel Awards]]
| rowspan="4"| 1959
| colspan="2"| Top Drama
| {{nom}}
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan="4"|
|-
| Top Female Dramatic Performance
| Susan Hayward
| {{nom}}
|-
| Top Cinematography – Black-and-White
| Lionel Lindon
| {{nom}}
|-
| Best Score
| Johnny Mandel
| {{nom}}
|-
! scope="row" rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| [[Mar del Plata International Film Festival]]
| rowspan="2"| 1958
| Best Film
| Robert Wise
| {{nom}}
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2"|
|-
| Best Actress
| rowspan="3"| Susan Hayward
| {{won}}
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;"| [[New York Film Critics Circle Awards]]
| [[1958 New York Film Critics Circle Awards|1958]]
| [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]]
| {{won}}
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;"| [[Sant Jordi Awards]]
| 1958
| Best Foreign Actress
| {{won}}
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;"| [[Writers Guild of America Awards]]
| [[11th Writers Guild of America Awards|1959]]
| [[Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written Drama|Best Written American Drama]]
| Nelson Gidding and Don Mankiewicz
| {{nom}}
| style="text-align:center;"|
|}

===Home media===
[[MGM Home Entertainment]] released ''I Want to Live!'' on [[DVD]] on May 7, 2002.<ref>{{cite web|work=[[DVD Talk]]|title=I Want to Live!: DVD Talk Review of the DVD Video|date=May 19, 2002|last=Ordway|first=Holly E.|url=https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/3909/i-want-to-live/|url-status=live|archive-date=June 3, 2020|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200603045904/https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/3909/i-want-to-live/|access-date=June 3, 2020}}</ref> [[Kino International (company)|Kino Lorber]] reissued the film on DVD featuring a restored print in October 2015.<ref>{{cite web|work=DVD Talk|title=I Want to Live!: DVD Talk Review of the DVD Video|date=November 12, 2015|url=https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/70058/i-want-to-live/|last=Pewenofkit|first=Scott|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200603050214/https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/70058/i-want-to-live/|archive-date=June 3, 2020|access-date=June 3, 2020}}</ref> In November 2016, [[Twilight Time (home video label)|Twilight Time]] released the film on [[Blu-ray]] disc in a limited edition of 3,000 units.<ref>{{cite web|title=I Want to Live! (Limited Edition Series) (Blu-ray)|url=https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/71664/i-want-to-live-limited-edition-series/|last=Harrison|first=William|date=December 30, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200603050357/https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/71664/i-want-to-live-limited-edition-series/|archive-date=June 3, 2020|work=DVD Talk|access-date=June 3, 2020}}</ref>