HotToastyRag 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!

Richie-67-485852 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

MartinHafer I must tell you up front that Susan Hayward is among my least favorite actresses. Part of it is that sometimes she tended to overact (such as in "I Want to Live" where she mugged shamelessly). Part of it is that in the 1960s she made a lot of trashy soap opera- like films which were anything but subtle--such as "The Valley of the Dolls". I mention all this now because I did have a certain predisposition towards her and "Ada" when I began watching. Now this is NOT to say I can't enjoy the film or even her performance. Heck, I saw another one of her films, "Summer Flight", last night and enjoyed it immensely. Plus, surprise, surprise, this film was VERY soapy, VERY loud and still VERY enjoyable!When the film begins, Bo Gillis (Dean Martin) is running for governor. Along the way, he meets Ada (Susan Hayward) and pretty soon the pair are hitting the sheets! Ada is evidently NOT a nice girl and Bo is, well, just doing to her what most politicians want to do to the voters! However, surprisingly, Bo's interest is apparently NOT just sex and he soon whisks her away and they are married. Bo's handlers aren't happy, however--who is this woman and what is her past and, most importantly, what will be her impact on their candidate?! In essence, they treat her a bit like something the cat just drug in the house! What the film doesn't make clear until much later is that Ada is a prostitute...not just a woman of easy virtue.Soon Bo is elected governor. Things look great. However, over time, Bo comes to realize that he is rather powerless and his adviser Sylvester (Wilfred Hyde-White) is trying to pull all the strings. As for Ada, despite her white trash background, she actually turns out to be VERY adept in dealing with people and playing the role of the First Lady of the State. She and the new Lieutenant Governor are both worried...as Sylvester appears to be a real snake! So what's next for Snake-boy and the Gillis family? And, what about the OTHER snakes...and there are definitely more! Watch the film and see...In the case of "Ada", Susan Hayward was well chosen. While the tough-as-nails broad with more manliness in her than a football team persona won't work in all films, here it's absolutely perfect! Seeing her heading into the governor's office to clean house is very exciting to watch--as is her eventual run-in with Sylvester. He's a snake...but she turns out to be a real mongoose! In effect, it's sort of like "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" and a soap opera merged into one! Sensationalistic, a bit sleazy and a lot of fun to watch on a real low-brow level. And, most importantly, it's NEVER dull!! Who cares if it lacks realism...it really doesn't matter!

halriedl 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.