The comedy in "Never Too Late" comes fast and furious. It comes in dialog that ranges from one-line zingers to feuding repartee. It comes in situations, exaggerations and overacting that fuels the humor of scenes. It comes in the audience identity with one or more of the characters, and the situations in life.
This is a film made from a successful Broadway Play that had more than 1,000 performances from November 1962 to April 1965. The two leads from the stage reprise their roles. Paul Ford is Harry Lambert, and Maureen O'Sullivan is Edith Lambert. The Broadway play itself was a revised summer run play, "Cradle and All," by Sumner Arthur Long. Long also wrote the screenplay for the film. Noted Broadway director, George Abbott, saw the summer tour production and took the play to the big stage under a new title and with the original leads. It was O'Sullivan's return to performing after some years of raising a family with seven children.
Ford and O'Sullivan weren't the first choices for the lead roles in the film. Apparently, the leads were offered to a number of other actors, especially the role of Edith. The Trivia Section on the IMDb Web site here says that the Spencer Tracy was the Warner Brothers' choice for the part of Harry. But, he was ill at the time. And having seen the film with Paul Ford as Harry, it's hard to imagine anyone else in the role.
Ford's treatment at times appears exaggerated, as one would be on the stage for delivery to the back seats in the theater. But that makes it all the more humorous. He is a cantankerous, irascible, self-centered old codger who takes for granted his wife and her doting care for him and his household. And, O'Sullivan as Edith plays the part of the wife who gradually turns a new leaf. That and much of the comedy thereafter is brought on by Edith's pregnancy in her late age.
The story has a mix of real-life situations. Many people may be able to identify with one or the other. They combine in this film for a warm, funny, film about life and family. Of course, it's all because of the character of Harry Lambert. Harry is a self-made owner of a lumber company in a New England town (Calverton, or Calvertown as one store sign spells it), who always buys the best-made things for his home, but who otherwise is a real tightwad. He's a rich man who gives his wife a household allowance and grocery money. He's old-fashioned and reluctant to change, and a skinflint even in his business. His secretary has to ask him for postage stamps to mail out six bills.
And, Harry has relative problems. His daughter, Kate Clinton, has never had to work and she doesn't know how to cook. She and her husband, Charlie, have lived at home with Harry and Edith since their marriage three years ago. Harry sees Charlie as a freeloader, and Charlie can't move out because of Harry's pittance of a pay. Oh, yes. Charlie works for Harry; and in spite of a college degree and seeming good sense, Charlie can't seem to do anything right in Harry's eyes. Jim Hutton and Connie Stevens are very good in the roles of Charlie and Kate.
The rest of the main cast add more to the humor. Lloyd Nolan is Mayor Crane, a next-door neighbor and antagonist to Harry. Henry Jones plays Dr. James Kimbrough and Jane Wyatt is his wife, Grace. The movie was filmed in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I wonder how many towns in America – small or large, had helicopters for their mayors.
This is a funny comedy with a warm message about how a new addition to a family, even late in life, can bring changes for the better. A very funny scene is when Harry puts his foot down and won't go shopping with Edith in the Pink Di-Dee shop. The writers took pokes at other things of the day, including the daytime soap operas. We hear a TV program break when an announcer says, "Another episode of 'The Ugliness of Life.'" Here are some samples of funny dialog. For more humor, see the Quotes section here on the IMDb Web page of the film.
Harry, "Yes, well I've got a head on my shoulders too. Don't talk to me about space."
Grace, "A man's only entitled to what he can get away with."
Edith, "Kate eats lunch." Harry, "What you mean is, she eats breakfast. But she just doesn't get up until it's time for lunch."
Harry, "Of course they're happy. They've got me. I make them happy."
This is a film made from a successful Broadway Play that had more than 1,000 performances from November 1962 to April 1965. The two leads from the stage reprise their roles. Paul Ford is Harry Lambert, and Maureen O'Sullivan is Edith Lambert. The Broadway play itself was a revised summer run play, "Cradle and All," by Sumner Arthur Long. Long also wrote the screenplay for the film. Noted Broadway director, George Abbott, saw the summer tour production and took the play to the big stage under a new title and with the original leads. It was O'Sullivan's return to performing after some years of raising a family with seven children.
Ford and O'Sullivan weren't the first choices for the lead roles in the film. Apparently, the leads were offered to a number of other actors, especially the role of Edith. The Trivia Section on the IMDb Web site here says that the Spencer Tracy was the Warner Brothers' choice for the part of Harry. But, he was ill at the time. And having seen the film with Paul Ford as Harry, it's hard to imagine anyone else in the role.
Ford's treatment at times appears exaggerated, as one would be on the stage for delivery to the back seats in the theater. But that makes it all the more humorous. He is a cantankerous, irascible, self-centered old codger who takes for granted his wife and her doting care for him and his household. And, O'Sullivan as Edith plays the part of the wife who gradually turns a new leaf. That and much of the comedy thereafter is brought on by Edith's pregnancy in her late age.
The story has a mix of real-life situations. Many people may be able to identify with one or the other. They combine in this film for a warm, funny, film about life and family. Of course, it's all because of the character of Harry Lambert. Harry is a self-made owner of a lumber company in a New England town (Calverton, or Calvertown as one store sign spells it), who always buys the best-made things for his home, but who otherwise is a real tightwad. He's a rich man who gives his wife a household allowance and grocery money. He's old-fashioned and reluctant to change, and a skinflint even in his business. His secretary has to ask him for postage stamps to mail out six bills.
And, Harry has relative problems. His daughter, Kate Clinton, has never had to work and she doesn't know how to cook. She and her husband, Charlie, have lived at home with Harry and Edith since their marriage three years ago. Harry sees Charlie as a freeloader, and Charlie can't move out because of Harry's pittance of a pay. Oh, yes. Charlie works for Harry; and in spite of a college degree and seeming good sense, Charlie can't seem to do anything right in Harry's eyes. Jim Hutton and Connie Stevens are very good in the roles of Charlie and Kate.
The rest of the main cast add more to the humor. Lloyd Nolan is Mayor Crane, a next-door neighbor and antagonist to Harry. Henry Jones plays Dr. James Kimbrough and Jane Wyatt is his wife, Grace. The movie was filmed in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I wonder how many towns in America – small or large, had helicopters for their mayors.
This is a funny comedy with a warm message about how a new addition to a family, even late in life, can bring changes for the better. A very funny scene is when Harry puts his foot down and won't go shopping with Edith in the Pink Di-Dee shop. The writers took pokes at other things of the day, including the daytime soap operas. We hear a TV program break when an announcer says, "Another episode of 'The Ugliness of Life.'" Here are some samples of funny dialog. For more humor, see the Quotes section here on the IMDb Web page of the film.
Harry, "Yes, well I've got a head on my shoulders too. Don't talk to me about space."
Grace, "A man's only entitled to what he can get away with."
Edith, "Kate eats lunch." Harry, "What you mean is, she eats breakfast. But she just doesn't get up until it's time for lunch."
Harry, "Of course they're happy. They've got me. I make them happy."