Too much of everything

Absolutely the worst movie.

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

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!

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!

For me, this film started off with a leg up because of the two stars. I'm a huge Dean Martin fan, and Susan Hayward has always been a favorite. Having said that, I still think this film is under-appreciated.I've heard people say that the plot's not really believable. It's about as believable as the plots of most films. And, it's loosely based on some real southern history -- multiple times in fact, and most recently in the case of Lurleen Wallace, wife to George Wallace. However -- despite the modernity of Hayward's attire in the film -- this film was set during the Great Depression...and in the deep South. So I think the basic plot is quite believable.As much as I enjoy Dean on film, a better southern accent would have helped (which he certainly achieved in "Some Came Running"). However, he's supposed to be a bit of a bumpkin in this role, and I think he plays it as needed. Susan Hayward...well, she has "spunk", and it really showed in this film. When you went to a Susan Hayward film, this is exactly the kind of portrayal you wanted to see.There are also a couple of superb supporting performances. Wilfred Hyde-White is brilliant as the dirty politician. True, his British accent showed through a tad, but his delight in playing the villainous role more than made up for that. An actor I usually don't really appreciate -- Ralph Meeker -- ably portrays the sleazy "colonel" in the state police and militia -- a wonderful performance. Martin Balsam is also very good as the speech writer/college boy working for the governor, but his role needed to be expanded just a bit. Balsam was one of those reliable character actors throughout much of the latter half of the 1900s. Frank Maxwell also has a good role as the lieutenant governor here, and joins a number of recognizable character actors in support of the primary cast.I also have to mention the direction of the film. It would have been very easy to overdo it with the southern aspect of the film, and shove that southern malaise down our throats (as Lillian Hellman sometimes did). Director Daniel Mann resisted that temptation, and also "the South" was always there, it didn't overwhelm the story.The Warner Archives has recently (2012) released this film, although it has not been restored. My biggest complaint with the DVD is a lack of crispness (though not bad), and variations in skin tone throughout the film...often too red. But, it's still nice to have it out in reasonable quality.Yup, I'm a bit prejudiced here, but this has always been a particular favorite of mine. I highly recommend it, soap-sudsy as it may seem.

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.