The life, times and death of bad-girl Barbara Graham, who was executed in the gas chamber at San Quentin for a murder the film strongly implies she did not commit. The movie does not attempt to whitewash the character of “Bloody Babs,” as she became known during her trial, but presents her as an habitual criminal who is both immoral and irresponsible. The film's importance lies in its strong indictment of capital punishment and in its harrowing, clinical presentation of the prelude to an execution. The execution itself is shown in full. This caused the film to be cut in some countries. Scored with jazz music by John Mandel and strongly played by Susan Hayward, who won an Academy Award for her performance.