Ada

Despite the promising combination of Dean Martin and Susan Hayward, Ada is a disappointing political drama.

Susan Hayward’s fine, if underwhelming, as the titular character, an ambitious call girl determined to clean up city hall. The biggest problem is that, at 44, Hayward isn’t believable. Perhaps we’re supposed to believe she’s really in her early thirties, but the ravages of decades as in the world’s oldest profession age you in a different, unnatural way. Hayward looks like an aging actress, not an aging prostitute.

Opposite her, Dean Martin is much better as the affable governor who wakes up to realize he’s just the front-man for a corrupt political machine. Martin’s natural charm and experience as a performer make him a natural in the role, though he does seem to be phoning it in to a degree by the end.

Despite Hayward’s mediocre turn, the film manages to hold your interest. Unfortunately, the big climax is a stiff, state senate floor piece that feels utterly anti-climatic. Where you expected wheeling, dealing, and political maneuvering, you instead get five minutes of Hayward telling a bunch of character’s you’ve hardly seen that she’s “counting on them” followed by a big speech from Dean Martin. It’s an abrupt ending and one that probably oversimplifies Wirt Williams’ novel, thus leaving Ada for the Hayward and Martin die-hards.