Purely Joyful Movie!

hyped garbage

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

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!

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.

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.

Apon viewing this film I felt a number of different emotions. I really didn't intend to watch this film at all. However, once I started I was quite anxious to find out how it ended.The plot for the movie was interesting. A tramp marries the man running for governor three weeks prior to the election day, and they proceed to clean-up corruption in politics, when he is elected. The first thing I thought was how hypocritical. He was elected by crooks and then decided he didn't like them. That, of course, made me think of Wilson, President Wilson. He did the same thing. So I dismissed that notion. If Wilson can do it, it's not too bad.Next as the film went on I began to wonder why they ever got married. Susan Hayward(redhead) and Dean Martin(lounge singer) didn't seem to be an ideal couple in my mind. I must say, they didn't look too odd next to each other. Their "marriage" was not a healthy one to say the least. They did work well in their roles. I enjoyed Susan's ruthless determination and Dean's clueless and laid back attitude. I think an already established acting couple or a couple that looks like they could have a relationship off stage would have been better. I felt like they weren't right together. Nonetheless, they did a good job.The final thing was the ending. It really bothered me. There was something missing. Like dialogue or a kiss or some form of interaction besides looking at each other. The scene was wonderful. I loved the whole Congress session. But it was like the writer gave up on ending the relationship between the main characters. He/She (I don't remember who wrote it) thought we didn't care what they did as long as they were together. That may be, but I need more than a hand shake to show that they are happy together.This is really a good film. I love Hayward. Her characters are so passionate and devoted. That really worked well. The "angry" scenes were stifled because Dean's not a "yeller." In this role it appears he lacks the drive to get angry. In all, Susan steals the show and lays every thing on the line to win our hearts and Dean's.