This
week on Night Lights it's "I Want to Live!" Based on
the true story of accused murderess Barbara Graham, this 1958 movie
employed a jazz soundtrack written by Johnny Mandel and performed by
such jazz stalwarts as Gerry Mulligan, Bud Shank and Art Farmer (who
appeared in the movie's opening scenes), along with Frank Rosolino,
Jack Sheldon, and Shelly Manne. Susan Hayward (who met a grisly demise
in many of her films from the 1940s and 1950s) played Graham, a woman
with a troubled past and a real-life jazz and Gerry Mulligan fan who
was eventually executed in 1955, despite her protestations of innocence.
(Debate continues today over whether or not she actually committed the
murder for which she was convicted.)
Hayward
won an Academy Award for her performance in the movie, which was directed
by Hoosier native Robert Wise (The Day the Earth Stood Still, West
Side Story, The Haunting, The Sound of Music) We'll hear music from
both versions of the soundtrack that were released, as well as more
background on the story behind Barbara Graham and the making of the
movie. "I Want to Live!" airs Saturday, September 2 at 11:05
p.m. EST on WFIU.