Ada

If you're a fan of Susan Hayward this film has everything you need.

An old-fashioned melodrama with all the trimmings Susan rules over this with a velvet glove. She's a girl from "the wrong side of the tracks", a prostitute in a roadside honky tonk who makes the acquaintance of a dim hayseed one night. He has a way with a song and isn't clever enough to see that he is being used as a dim bulb stooge by a political machine to take him to the governor's mansion. The film offers nothing new on this age old chestnut but the presentation is what counts here.

A star vehicle to be sure slanted Susan's way much more than Dean's even though he gets a moment here and there. Spotlighted in a way stars never are today Susan commands the screen. Notice that she is surrounded only by colors that flatter her, the rooms she finds herself in are almost exclusively white or a soft green to highlight her flame colored tresses. Even the roadhouse where she starts the story has that high class sheen that is a hallmark of the studio era.

The performances are excellent. Dean ambles through without too much to do but handles his one big scene well. Martin Balsam and Ralph Meeker are solid as Dean's trusted friend and a slimy cop respectively but it's Wilfred Hyde-White who stands out as the reptilian political operator who crosses swords with Susan. Therein lies the meat of the story and the basic enjoyment of the film. When these two old pros square off the fireworks are a treat, although Susan gets a couple of other chances on her own to rip apart the unsuspecting when she discovers malfeasance.

A few interesting side notes. The actress playing Susan's madam, Connie Sawyer known as the oldest working actress in Hollywood, is still alive and appearing in small parts at 102 as of November 2014.

The other note is a bit more somber, as she entered the end of her cancer struggle Susan Hayward's friends told her they had arranged for her to see any of her films that she wanted and she selected this film much to their surprise. In hindsight though it's easy to see why, every effort is made to make her look her best, its set in the south which had been her home for many years during her happy second marriage and her part is tailor made to many of her strengths.

If you love Susan Hayward or old time studio made melodramas don't miss this!

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 ****

The stars of this movie caught my eye when I checked this out of my local library, otherwise, I probably would have avoided it since it was such an obscure title. I just watched it with my mom who enjoyed it. I did too though I noticed it skimped on some details concerning the way corruption is possibly handled in politics. But it's fun seeing Dean Martin, Susan Hayward, and Wilfrid Hyde-White spar on screen as well as Ralph Meeker and Martin Balsam also around when it comes time to pick the good guys and the bad. Don't know if Dean's character is based on anyone from my home state of Louisiana who was elected governor but it's interesting when he's compared to some of them in other reviews on this site. Anyway, that's a recommendation of Ada.

Though entertaining enough, "Ada" does not belong in the top tier of Susan Hayward showcases. She's terrific as always, in a role that suits her, but too much in this stretches credibility and lacks proper transitioning. I blame the script, plus Susan and Dean Martin don't especially click together. The film is set in the South and, even though it says Ada comes from Alabama originally, its never made clear which state the action occurs in. The period is also not spelled out, though at the beginning, as Martin is campaigning, he passes a movie theater showing "Escapade", a 1935 William Powell vehicle. Yet, the clothing and hairstyles are definitely not 30's style. Two fine character actors, Martin Balsam and Ralph Meeker, are not given enough to do in support, while Wilfred Hyde-White never seems quite right as wily power-behind-the-scenes Sylvester Marin, his British accent out of place even with a layer of Southern drawl superimposed over it. All in all, you'll be entertained by this combination of "All the King's Men" and "A Face in the Crowd" with sudsy soap opera, but don't expect greatness.

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.