In addition to being a decade too old to play real life murderer Barbara Graham, Susan Hayward chews the scenery so hard in this soapy drama, you can practically hear the wallpaper crunching between her teeth.
Based on the events and trial surrounding the real life murder of Mabel Monahan and the three people who killed her in the hope of finding a hidden stash of cash that wasn't there, this film is a vastly overrated piece of silliness meant to garner sympathy for the former prostitute nicknamed "Bloody Babs" by the press.
Hayward certainly does no favors to the real life Barbara Graham, what with her ridiculous histrionics and constant shouting outbursts. She could've benefited by watching the more measured performances of her co-stars, like Simon Oakland as Ed Montgomery, the journalist who told Barbara's story, Virginia Vincent as Barbara's devoted friend Peg, and Alice Backes as the prison nurse who becomes Barbara's death row ally.
The final gas chamber sequence was no doubt harrowing and shocking to 1958 audiences, and it's this scene alone that may have gotten Hayward her Academy Award, but despite your views on capital punishment, the entire film comes off as a chronicle of a scandalous homicide that just plays fast and loose with the facts.
Hayward got her gold statuette for this one, but it should've gone to Rosalind Russell for Auntie Mame or even Shirley MacLaine for Some Came Running.
Based on the events and trial surrounding the real life murder of Mabel Monahan and the three people who killed her in the hope of finding a hidden stash of cash that wasn't there, this film is a vastly overrated piece of silliness meant to garner sympathy for the former prostitute nicknamed "Bloody Babs" by the press.
Hayward certainly does no favors to the real life Barbara Graham, what with her ridiculous histrionics and constant shouting outbursts. She could've benefited by watching the more measured performances of her co-stars, like Simon Oakland as Ed Montgomery, the journalist who told Barbara's story, Virginia Vincent as Barbara's devoted friend Peg, and Alice Backes as the prison nurse who becomes Barbara's death row ally.
The final gas chamber sequence was no doubt harrowing and shocking to 1958 audiences, and it's this scene alone that may have gotten Hayward her Academy Award, but despite your views on capital punishment, the entire film comes off as a chronicle of a scandalous homicide that just plays fast and loose with the facts.
Hayward got her gold statuette for this one, but it should've gone to Rosalind Russell for Auntie Mame or even Shirley MacLaine for Some Came Running.