Ada

Susan Hayward right after her triumph in I Want To Live had a string of hit movies: Woman Obsessed, Marriage Go Round, Back Street and this film Ada. Ada was filmed at MGM with Hayward's favorite Director Daniel Mann at the helm and was produced by Hayward's Chalmar Production Company. The Hayward-Mann connection was responsible for Susan Hayward's favorite film I'll Cry Tomorrow also at MGM which won the Star the Cannes Film Festival Award and an Oscar nomination. This film lavishly produced by MGM centers around Ms. Hayward playing a tramp who marries the Governor of a Southern State played by Dean Martin, and eventually becomes Governor due to an assignation attempt on the Governor played by Dean Martin. Susan Hayward's skill as an actress and Dean Martin's fine leading Man work mesh well together.

Supporting players include Martin Balsam and Ralph Meeker both ably acquit themselves. I liked the scene where Meeker tries to blackmail La Hayward as the Governor's wife. Susan Hayward-ever in control simply slaps Meeker and moves on. ( In my opinion Meeker should have been a major star) Wlfrid Hyde White plays a very wily Southern politician.

For the record as is part of Susan Hayward legend, Of all Ms Hayward's classic films such as I Want To Live, Smash Up, My Foolish Heart, etc, Ada is the film Susan Hayward requested to see just before Ms Hayward died of brain cancer.

Also note that there are many scenes with bouquets of yellow Roses. said to be Ms Hayward's favorite flower, Susan Hayward carries a big bouquet of yellow roses to Mr. Hyde-White.

Ada is a Susan Hayward movie, if you like Ms. Hayward -and I do!- you will like this film.

The conclusion of the film is intelligent where Susan Hayward and Martin reconcile and walk out of the State Capitol as equals.

I had trouble naming my review and I guessing they had a time trying to name this movie thus Ada will have to do for us both. I like Susan Hayworth and she has predictable acting and facial expressions in all her work. It doesn't lack here and she delivers. On Dean Martin, I appreciate his trying to enter into drama and westerns but I could never get used to him doing so. He doesn't have the depth and the acting skills to pull it off. His fame, wealth and power allowed him opportunities to be sure but that is about it. The story itself is interesting from this point of view. Who doesn't like a rags to riches or an underdog becoming a top dog especially it they are a good soul. That is the case here. Susan pulls it off. However Dean further distracted me when I watched him run for office and playing guitar songs to win people over. At this point, I was ready to pull-out but a strange thing happened. The story appeared and it is an interesting one. Human nature does not disappoint and here we get a generous portion of greed, underhand-ness, corruption, scheming and for those that like decent endings comeuppance visits and gives us closure making it satisfying for the viewer and for the actors to say they earned their pay. I recommend a movie snack of your choice and a tasty drink and stay with this until it clicks. It will and it is worth it as the viewer is forced to become involved and choose sides thus emotions are engaged. It is called in the movie parlance "entertainment". You will be

Depression-era politics in the Old South, as guitar-strummin' sheriff Dean Martin campaigns for Governor, meeting and marrying call-girl Susan Hayward on the trail. Soon they're dealing with legislation problems and greedy weasels with old money, but will Hayward's ambitious nature ruin her marriage as well as bring her past history to light? Well-produced but naive, rather plodding melodrama based on Wirt Williams' novel "Ada Dallas" gives all the juiciest scenes to Hayward; Martin, on the other, is shunted off to the side (they're quite a pair anyway: he drinks, she smokes). The atmosphere of Southern plantations and back alleys isn't captured with much distinction (we don't even know what state this is supposedly taking place in), but the production is certainly colorful, even if the human interaction is rote. ** from ****

"Ada" has a good premise, but unfortunately does not evolve into a good movie. The soapy melodrama about a "puppet" gubernatorial candidate married to a prostitute does not due justice to the talents of its stars. The fine talents of the three main stars are not fully explored, and their characters are likewise underdeveloped. The ending is hardly probable, and as a resolution, it leaves a lot to be desired.

The cast do the best they can with the material they have. Dean Martin and Susan Hayward are both quite credible in their highly emotional performances. Wilfrid Hyde-White is also good in portraying a grasping and stifling villain, an unusual role for him.

When Ada was shown on TCM this past weekend Robert Osborne remarked that Susan Hayward requested to see this film during her final bout with brain cancer. I remembered reading some years ago that she said in an article her three favorite leading men were Clark Gable, John Wayne, and Dean Martin. She must have liked those guys a lot because she sure didn't do her best work with them.

But Ada is vintage Susan Hayward and again the kind of stuff that should have been done as a prime time TV soap opera. That's what these characters are more suited for.

In fact Dean Martin as Bo Gillis and Hayward as Ada are based on a couple of real life southern politicians. Jimmie Davis was a country singer/songwriter whose writing of You Are My Sunshine got him elected Governor of Louisiana. As it turned out when Ada was in theaters, Davis was being re-elected Governor of Louisiana again.

Miriam "Ma" Ferguson pinch hit for her husband James E. Ferguson twice as Governor of Texas. Of course Ma Ferguson didn't quite have the trollop background of Ada.

Susan is working in a high class bordello when gubernatorial candidate Martin comes in for a little entertainment. Wouldn't you know it, they fall in love and marry.

By a wild set of circumstances, Hayward is also made Lieutenant Governor as well as First Lady. I'll bet Bill Clinton is cursing the day he didn't think of that instead of being stuck with that stiff he had for a Vice president.

Fans of Susan Hayward and I'm one of them will love Ada. But it really is a bit much to expect the audience to swallow the incredible plot this film has.