User reviews

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!

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.

Attention Susan Hayward fans: add Ada to your list. She plays the title character, and it's one of the most classic "Susan Hayward roles" she ever played. It's not my all-time favorite of her films, because I'm not a Dean Martin fan, but it's an essential watch for all who love her.

Dean is a fast-rising politician in the South, and as everyone knows, skeletons run rampant in politicians' closets. When the movie starts, Dean doesn't have any scandal, but when he marries a prostitute, there's quite a bit of covering up to do! His campaign manager, Wilfrid Hyde White, and his speechwriter, Martin Balsam, can't stand Susan Hayward from the moment she marries Dean, because of the threat of danger she brings to their campaign. But when she starts becoming an even bigger threat-it's Susan Hayward, do we really think she'll be content acting like a simpering wife?-they really can't stand her!

Susan Hayward is one of my all-time favorite actresses, so I absolutely loved her in this role. Her character is everything you think of when you think of Susan Hayward: strong, charming, cunning, shrewd, tough, smart, sexy, and classy. I also love political movies, and this one shows the fantastic and sickening world of back-door politics. Check it out to further your love of either!

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

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.

This is an MGM potboiler with great colors and weak credibility. The picture was probably the best that repressed Hollywood could do at the time with the legend of Earl Long, once Governor of Louisiana, and the stripper Blaze Starr. (The story was filmed many years later, with Paul Newman and Lolita Davidovich.) A singing, guitar-playing candidate for Governor in the Depression South is quite historical. The sly self-deprecation in Bo Gillis's stump speech at the beginning of the picture is well done. But once he hooks up with Susan Hayward, Dean Martin becomes a marshmallow. The role must have appealed tremendously to a tough broad like Hayward. She was a perfect choice for Barbara Graham in I Want to Live. I'd call the picture a failure with interesting features.

"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.

Lavish MGM production, set circa 1936 but with clothes and makeup (especially Susan Hayward's) strictly 1961, this cumbersome drama wants to be a mix of political intrigue, marital soap opera, and star power, but it comes up a bit short. In a nameless Southern state (which the screenwriters awkwardly disguise by having characters say "the state" over and over and over), hooker Hayward fascinates and marries gubernatorial candidate Dean Martin, a passive good- guy sort who does the bidding of Wilfrid Hyde-White, the greedy, unethical local boss who siphons state projects to his buddies, shades of 45. She shoves her way into the lieutenant governor's position, then, when Martin's car is blown up (we never find out by whom), becomes acting governor and shakes off the passivity Martin has been practicing. There are minor subplots involving Martin's college buddy Martin Balsam and Ralph Meeker, who's good as a lackey of Hyde-White's who keeps trying to cozy up to the title character, but the emphasis is on Susan's hair, her clothes, and her tough-gal demeanor: When a character says, "Give my regards to the governor," she snarls back, "You're talking to the governor." Dean looks disinterested and hasn't much to play, and Hyde-White employs an odd accent that isn't quite Brit and isn't quite Dixie. We're supposed to cheer as he's brought down and the governor's marriage recovers, but it's a pretty simplistic view of politics, and a key plot point--the opposition has a taped confession of Hayward's prostitute past--is resolved in an unpersuasively offhand way. Enjoyable, and very nicely shot, but you'll forget it the minute it's over.

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.

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 ****

Someone for years used to place an note in Variety noting Ms Hayward: A Star Is A Star Is A Star! True!

This is a political thriller produced by Ms. Heywood's production company Chalmar. Chalmar was named after Eaton Chalkle La Haywards Husband and Ms Haywards real name Edythe Marrener. I read Haward's Will and it was signed Edythe Marrener Chalkley and Hayward went bt Marrener on all contracts, official papers.

Dean Martin is the costar and does his usual splendid work in a key stand out is Wilfrid Hyde White who plays a very corrupt politician. MGM gave this first-class production with Ms. Heyward's favorite director Daniel Mann directing Lawrence Weingarten a senior Producer at MGM was th producer on this film.

.Ms. Haywaard looks beautiful in this movie. This picture was first titled " Ada Dallas" but the title was changed because Susan Hayward and Ross Hunter wanted to remake the Stanwyck classic " Stella Dallas" but that never happened. I am a big Hayward fan but glad Susan did not remake " Stella Dallas". No one cold top Barbara Stanwyck's immortal performance. Not even Susan. Stanwyck and Hayward formed a great friendship and Missy was along with Kate Hepburn very caring for Susan as she battled bran cancer. The great Greta Garbo paid a visit to Hayward's mountain top home in Beverly Hills.

Interesting note: of all the pictures Ms. Heyward made to great acclaim such as I Want To Live, With a Song in my Heart, Smash Up , I'll Cry Tomorrow, Back Street, Ms. Hayward on her deathbed wanted to see a movie of hers and that movie was Ada. Susie was a private person and no one ever knew why she wanted to see this movie but she is reclined in her hospital bed and watch the movie.

Note the year in which it was filmed: 1961. Full Kennedy era. Notice the clean and critical political air that was blowing in the USA. The argument is a profound defense of democracy and a painful denunciation of political corruption. For that alone it deserves to be remembered. But the time it was made makes it a kind of historical document. Susan Hayward was a very good actress and Dean Martin I think he did his best to live up to it. Impossible to forget Martin Balsam, Wilfrid Hyde White and director Daniel Mann. Thanks to all of them we recovered a bit of that clean air that was breathed thanks to John F. Kennedy.