Above: Barbara Graham, one of four women to be executed in California, along with Juanita "the Duchess" Spinelli, Louise Peete and Elizabeth Duncan.
The trailer--dig those bongos! Gerry Mulligan!
Five years after the execution of Barbara Graham in the Mabel Monahan killing, the story comes to the screen in the Robert Wise film "I Want to Live!" by Nelson Gidding and Don Mankiewicz, starring Susan Hayward in an Oscar-winning performance.
Graham and accomplices John Santo and Emmett Perkins were convicted of killing Monahan, 63, who was found strangled and beaten in her Burbank home, which had been ransacked. Another accomplice, John True, testified for the prosecution under a grant of immunity. True said they were looking for $100,000 supposedly hidden at the home by Monahan's former son-in-law, a Las Vegas gambling operator.
"Mrs. Graham didn't bat an eye."
"I just can't believe that verdict is true."
"Life is so short. Is mine to be shorter?"
"As long as they found me guilty of something I didn't do, I'd rather take the gas chamber."
"When you hear the pellets drop, count 10 and take a deep breath."
"The newsmen and photogs around the office say she was 'guilty as hell.' "
The Barbara Graham story was part of my master's thesis at CSUN so I did a lot of research on the topic. The movie claims it's the true story of Barbara Graham but it wasn't close to the truth, especially that scene of her arrest featured in the trailer. The most accurate part of the movie was the execution sequence. After talking to a lot of people involved in the case including many of the cops I came to the conclusion that she was guilty. She garnered sympathy because of her gender but there wasn't much doubt as to her guilt.
In the late 1950s, movie theaters would often have various promotions for kids, including being able to get in for certain soft-drink bottlecaps for "special shows" [titles not announced]. I remember such a show at the Alcazar theater [long gone] in Bell, where hundreds of kids and teenagers, including myself, age 13, lined up with their Pepsi bottlecaps clutched in their hands.
Instead of something kids would actually like to see, such as "The Crimson Pirate," I remember being treated to "I Want to Live." It may have been a decent film, but the myriads of flattened popcorn boxes flying at the screen and hooting at this drama showed we didn't appreciate it much.
I have memories of being bored out of my mind and don't know if I could stand to watch it today, even though it might be worth seeing. On another such occasion, they showed "The Song of Bernadette," with not much bettter reception by us kids.
Geeze, what were they thinking? Did it boost box-office numbers to show serious film dramas like those to kids who really wanted adventure, Westerns, and such?
Barbara Graham had an horrific childhood. She repeated much of the sad life of her own mother. I wonder what happened to her three children? I hope they caught some breaks and had/have a better life. Perhaps Mr. Nichols,a previous poster on this topic would know.
in 1958 i was 14 years old and was stunned by this movie. I have always been a fan of susan hayward and thought she deserved the oscar, however we must look at this movie as entertainment and as a disturbing showing of what the gas chamber was like. It has always been a great film, but we must remember the victim and her death. Was barbara graham guilty we will never know. If guilty she got what she deserved, if innocent it is a very sad story. A comment in the movie was about her accomplices and a guard said what was she doing shacked up with them in the first place.
Larry Harnisch. The leading Black Dahlia expert and a collaborator in the 1947project, Harnisch has been a copy editor at The Times since 1988. He has appeared on many TV shows discussing the Dahlia case, notably "James Ellroy's Feast of Death."
Join him for a spin through old Los Angeles in the Mirror's radio car. Keep your eyes open for Mickey Cohen and Tempest Storm. It's quite a ride.
The reporter's badge belonged to Sid Hughes (1908-1958), legendary reporter who worked at nearly every newspaper in Los Angeles.
Keith Thursby. Keith has been an editor at The Times in news, sports and design since 1986. The Rams moved to St. Louis on his first day as assistant sports editor of the paper's Orange County edition. He grew up in Norwalk and lives in Irvine.
Blogs
Subscribe to this Blog - What is RSS?
The Barbara Graham story was part of my master's thesis at CSUN so I did a lot of research on the topic. The movie claims it's the true story of Barbara Graham but it wasn't close to the truth, especially that scene of her arrest featured in the trailer. The most accurate part of the movie was the execution sequence. After talking to a lot of people involved in the case including many of the cops I came to the conclusion that she was guilty. She garnered sympathy because of her gender but there wasn't much doubt as to her guilt.
Posted by: Ralph Nichols | November 16, 2008 at 11:36 AM
IS THIS THE OLD SUSAN HAYWOOD MOVIE. THE NAME IS SUSAN HAYWOOD, STARRING IN "I WANT TO LIVE" A VERY TOUCHING STORY.
Posted by: ESTELLA DAVIS | November 16, 2008 at 05:37 PM
Whats w/ the faux Al Hirshfeld drawing? And who is Norkin?
Posted by: Tim Ahern | November 17, 2008 at 07:41 AM
The Ballad Of Barbara Graham can be heard over on the WFMU blog. Also included is a photo of the Burbank house where Mabel Monahan was murdered.
LINK
Or if I messed up on that attempt to include a hyperlink:
http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2008/06/the-ballad-of-b.html
Posted by: Greg | November 17, 2008 at 01:43 PM
In the late 1950s, movie theaters would often have various promotions for kids, including being able to get in for certain soft-drink bottlecaps for "special shows" [titles not announced]. I remember such a show at the Alcazar theater [long gone] in Bell, where hundreds of kids and teenagers, including myself, age 13, lined up with their Pepsi bottlecaps clutched in their hands.
Instead of something kids would actually like to see, such as "The Crimson Pirate," I remember being treated to "I Want to Live." It may have been a decent film, but the myriads of flattened popcorn boxes flying at the screen and hooting at this drama showed we didn't appreciate it much.
I have memories of being bored out of my mind and don't know if I could stand to watch it today, even though it might be worth seeing. On another such occasion, they showed "The Song of Bernadette," with not much bettter reception by us kids.
Geeze, what were they thinking? Did it boost box-office numbers to show serious film dramas like those to kids who really wanted adventure, Westerns, and such?
Posted by: Sal B | November 17, 2008 at 10:55 PM
Barbara Graham had an horrific childhood. She repeated much of the sad life of her own mother. I wonder what happened to her three children? I hope they caught some breaks and had/have a better life. Perhaps Mr. Nichols,a previous poster on this topic would know.
Posted by: John McIsaac | December 05, 2008 at 09:47 PM
in 1958 i was 14 years old and was stunned by this movie. I have always been a fan of susan hayward and thought she deserved the oscar, however we must look at this movie as entertainment and as a disturbing showing of what the gas chamber was like. It has always been a great film, but we must remember the victim and her death. Was barbara graham guilty we will never know. If guilty she got what she deserved, if innocent it is a very sad story. A comment in the movie was about her accomplices and a guard said what was she doing shacked up with them in the first place.
Posted by: neal peterson | June 16, 2009 at 03:12 PM