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 enjoyed this Susan Hayward film, even if it had a few holes in its overall plot. No film can be truly bad with someone like Susan Hayward in it (and yes, I think that goes for Valley of the Dolls (1967) too), so you can't really lose if you watch a Susan Hayward film. She's confident, aggressive, smart, sassy, and attractive. As for the film itself, it had some gaping plot holes. For instance, why did Sylvester end up in a wheelchair being pushed around by a nurse? Was something cut and never explained in the final cut?Another hole: I believe that digging up the dirt that someone worked as a prostitute would be fairly easy to find. They had detectives in those days too. You would think that Ada's past would have caught up with her much earlier.Another thing: as one reviewer also said, in the story various characters speak of the rough economic times sort of alluding to the Great Depression, yet the movie looks like a movie from the sixties. What's up with that?Even though the ending is sort of Pollyannish, the film works in its Frank Capra kind of way showing that the common man can make changes in a corrupt political environment. It was interesting to watch the movie realizing that we are still in the same sad shape with many lying and evil politicians.The film is worth watching, even if it is rather forgotten.

Move over Hilary Clinton and Condi Rice. You had Ada to contend with before your true political aspirations become known.Bo Gillis is running for governor. He is introduced to trollop Ada, and after a whirlwind romance, they wed. Ada is played by Susan Hayward, always at the top of her game. Even with her red hair ablaze, Hayward looked haggard and not in the best of health when she made this flick.Of course, Bo, (Dean Martin) is a fool duped to run for governor by political boss Sylvester, (a not so charming Wilfrid Hyde-White,) who does quit well in his part of a vicious back-room character who controls the state of business and will go as far as murder to make sure that he rules.Bo quickly realizes that something is wrong when a governor is just called upon to sign bills. The Lt. Governor tells him all about the Parks legislation. Sylvester makes sure that the Lt.Governor resigns. Suddenly, Ada is determined to be his replacement.When Bo is ready to buck Sylvester, he is nearly killed in a bomb placed in his car. As Ada had volunteered to be the lieutenant, Bo thinks that she is in with Sylvester.Along for the ride is Ralph Meeker, who plays the head of the police. He is as corrupt as they come. He even makes a play for Ada. Why didn't she try to unload him right there and then?What is amazing in all this is that Ada becomes very intelligent regarding the workings of government and legislation very, very quickly. She has her own ideas in mind to rid the state of Sylvester's bossism. She confronts certain ladies at a tea party and reminds them of their husbands ties to the state, thanks to the legislation on the books that allows them to do business with the state.Suddenly, in a scene change, Sylvester is shown in a wheelchair. What happened Syl? True though, you're as sly as ever.Bo is released from the hospital and in the capitol gallery views the showdown between Ada and Sylvester. Sylvester's old tricks will not prevail.Good for its depiction of corruption. Fairly good performances but storyline is so predictable.

"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.