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Matt Hough

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Matt Hough

I Want to Live! Blu-ray Review

iwantlivetop-1024x764.jpg


I Want to Live!, Robert Wise’s riveting docudrama about the life of convicted murderer Barbara Graham, only gets more impressive with age.

[review]
Read more.
 
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Robin9

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Thanks for this review.

It's been so long since I watched the DVD that I'd forgotten it was non-anamorphic. I'll check obviously but if it is, I'll upgrade to this Blu-ray disc.
 

benbess

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Matt H writes in his thoughtful and well-written review:

"....director Robert Wise, who early on filmed scenes with a tilted camera suggesting the drug fueled smoke-filled jazz club where we first are pulled into a shadowy world of schemers and low-lifes, pulls out all the stops for the film’s last half hour, Barbara’s endless hours in the cell adjoining the gas chamber waiting for any word of hope, jumping every time the phone rings...."

This says it well. That last half hour is what really makes this film memorable. Wise and his production designers take such great care at recreating the California gas chamber of the 1950s, and many of the details of its operation. The governor of the time even allowed Wise to view an execution himself to get some of the details right.

What impressed me as a child seeing this movie, and what impresses me again now at age 52, was how careful and professional everyone in San Quentin was in doing their jobs. They are all compassionate toward the person about to suffer the ultimate penalty, as well as professional and meticulous in doing their individual parts that makes the whole machinery work.

I think Susan Hayward's last words are something like "What would you know about it!" Below is an image of the real Barbara Graham being interviewed by Stuart Palmer:

Doomed%20to%20die%20in%20the%20gas%20chamber,%20Barbara%20Graham%20is%20interviewed%20by%20writer%20Stuart%20Palmer,%20then%20special%20feature%20writer%20for%20the%20Lo-thumb-580x464-60123.jpg
 
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benbess

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Aerial view of the real San Quentin today. Some good exteriors of the prison are seen in the movie. I think all of the interiors are sets—although good ones.

san-quentin-aerial-4.3.jpg
 

benbess

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And here are a few images of the real gas chamber at San Quentin, which hasn't been used for many years....You can see from this how careful they were at creating the movie version of it for I Want to Live!

executionchamberfromwitnessareasanquentin.jpg

gaschamber_t1200-590x392.jpeg
 

Dick

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And here are a few images of the real gas chamber at San Quentin, which hasn't been used for many years....You can see from this how careful they were at creating the movie version of it for I Want to Live!

executionchamberfromwitnessareasanquentin.jpg

gaschamber_t1200-590x392.jpeg
This is a terrific, if deeply depressing, film. It's one of the films, along with THE HAUNTING and THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, that make him one of the best directors ever. I think, though, that MGM handed Twilight Time an improperly framed transfer. This should be at 1.66:1, which was the standard of most of the non-scope United Artists films of its era. I only notice this because 1.66:1 is my absolute favorite aspect ratio, and I believe (though I may be wrong) that the earlier DVD got that right.
 

haineshisway

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That is, of course, completely untrue. The film was shot for and shown in 1.85 - by the year this film was made 1.85 was the non-scope standard and that's how this film played. And as I've written elsewhere, this is one of the best MGM/UA transfers.
 

benbess

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That is, of course, completely untrue. The film was shot for and shown in 1.85 - by the year this film was made 1.85 was the non-scope standard and that's how this film played. And as I've written elsewhere, this is one of the best MGM/UA transfers.

If you'd be willing to post a link to your review, I'd like to read it.
 

Dick

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That is, of course, completely untrue. The film was shot for and shown in 1.85 - by the year this film was made 1.85 was the non-scope standard and that's how this film played. And as I've written elsewhere, this is one of the best MGM/UA transfers.

Not that I trust IMDB as the last word for anything, but they do claim the oar was 1.66:1 (this would seem an odd ratio for anyone to list if it wasn't accurate), and if memory serves, the DVD was presented that way.

And, are the people at TCM also wrong...?

http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/78889/I-Want-to-Live-/theatrical-aspect-ratio.html

And please note that I also said "I think..." when suggesting MGM gave TT a transfer with an improper ratio. I am frequently wrong on this forum, and welcome correction. The transfer is spectacular as you say, and you're right that it's one of the best of the 50's-60's United Artists Blu-ray titles, so my comment was much more of an observation than a complaint. But I'm not quite convinced I was wrong to say this should have been 1.66:1. Not a big deal, of course, as we're talking inches of screen space, but perhaps Mr. Furmanek or Robert Harris could illuminate us further about it. I'm not in the industry and will happily concede to 1.85:1 if there is further corroboration. Have a safe and restful holiday, Bruce. :)
 

Robert Crawford

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Not that I trust IMDB as the last word for anything, but they do claim the oar was 1.66:1 (this would seem an odd ratio for anyone to list if it wasn't accurate), and if memory serves, the DVD was presented that way.

And, are the people at TCM also wrong...?

http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/78889/I-Want-to-Live-/theatrical-aspect-ratio.html

And please note that I also said "I think..." when suggesting MGM gave TT a transfer with an improper ratio. I am frequently wrong on this forum, and welcome correction. The transfer is spectacular as you say, and you're right that it's one of the best of the 50's-60's United Artists Blu-ray titles, so my comment was much more of an observation than a complaint. But I'm not quite convinced I was wrong to say this should have been 1.66:1. Not a big deal, of course, as we're talking inches of screen space, but perhaps Mr. Furmanek or Robert Harris could illuminate us further about it. I'm not in the industry and will happily concede to 1.85:1 if there is further corroboration. Have a safe and restful holiday, Bruce. :)
Dick,

From what I've read over the years about this fllm, I believe the aspect ratio of 1.85:1 for "I Want to Live" is correct and that IMDB is wrong.
 

haineshisway

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Yes, you can't go by anything at the imdb. For example, most of the MGM/UA DVD things were 1.66 - just something they did back in the day and have never changed. So, let's say some person saw that, assumed it was correct, they go onto an imdb page and put that in and there it stays uncorrected. Same thing on Wikipedia, which is riddled with misinformation. I was thrilled with this transfer - I couldn't believe it, frankly, given that you never know what you'll get from an MGM/UA transfer.
 

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