Never Too Late

I have to put this one on my personal top 10 list. Its quaint and very well cast. Maureen O'Sullivan is awesome, and Paul Ford, well what can you say about him, he is magnificent. They play the expecting middle-aged couple to perfection. Everything about this movie is classy, especially the ladies outfits. Women knew how to dress back then, and looked like ladies. The dialogue is snappy & funny, and the film never drags, but is funny from start to finish.

If you want a nice little movie to watch on a rainy Sunday afternoon, to cheer you up, this is one DVD to pop in the machine and watch.

Crotchety Harry Lambert (Paul Ford) owns a small lumber yard. He is not happy with his new-thinking employee son-in-law Charlie Clinton (Jim Hutton). He is pushing his daughter Kate (Connie Stevens) to start a family. His wife Edith (Maureen O'Sullivan) receives surprising news. She's pregnant.

It's a fun concept especially for the older couple. It's based on a 1962 play. The younger couple is a little off. They are playing more immature especially Connie Stevens. She's in her late twenties. The character plays more early twenties. Charlie shows that he's forward thinking early on, but he retreats back to the 50's. The younger couple is more annoying than funny. The two couples are far too similar. I kept thinking of Norman Lear doing All in the Family. I like the first half a lot. The second half takes a couple of awkward turns where it could funny but somehow it's not that funny. It becomes a bit too angry without the humor.

Since this film followed a successful Broadway play, I can only conclude that the play must have been funnier. I found Paul Ford's character completely repugnant. He is a blowhard who has no appreciation for anyone around him. This is supposed to be hilarious but I just found it irritating and sad. The idea that a lovely, charming woman like Maureen O'Sullivan would be married to the crude, unattractive Paul Ford strains credulity. Not the fault of the actor - he is very funny in other movies - it is instead the result of the hostile screenplay.

Before Bud Yorkin and Norman Leer shot to fame for films such as "Start the Revolution Without Me" or TV shows like "All in the Family", they had a big stage success with "Never Too Late". And, unlike most Broadway shows that make it to the big screen, the starts of the play, Paul Ford and Maureen O'Sullivan, starred in BOTH!

The story is very simple. Edith is in her 50s and finds herself pregnant. However, oddly, her husband just seems to be in a very foul mood throughout the film...complaining about pretty much everything! You'd think he'd be happy and initially shocked...but his reaction just seemed bizarre and inappropriate. And, speaking of inappropriate, when the daughter and her husband hear about it, suddenly the daughter (Connie Stevens) insists she also wants a baby and her husband (Jim Hutton) also then spends the rest of the film complaining! And, after a while, I just got tired of it!

While the story is fun, at least initially, it just didn't seem the least bit realistic nor enjoyable. Yelling isn't comedy...and this is pretty much yelling from start to finish. It has some good moments here and there...but overall it left me flat.

By the way, if you watch the film, notice that they never use the word 'toilet' in the scene with the toilet. They also act as if it's something unmentionable. Too weird.

Film version of the hit Broadway play that ran for over 1,000 performances. Original stars Paul Ford and Maureen O'Sullivan repeat their stage performances as the middle-aged couple dealing with a surprise pregnancy.

Filmed in Concord, Massachusetts, this movie perfectly captures "small town" America just before the 60s went nuts. Affluent Harry and Edith Lambert live in a big house where Harry rants and fumes about everything, especially his daughter Katie (Connie Stevens) and her husband Charlie (Jim Hutton) who live with them. The young marrieds are just big children, depending on poor Edith to do everything for them (cook, clean, do laundry), until Edith breaks the news of her pregnancy.

To make matters worse here, Charlie works for Harry in his local business. As Harry and Edith grapple with the pregnancy, Katie and Charlie are forced to grow up and accept responsibility for their own lives. Sweet and funny, the domestic situations ring a bell even today with the trend of grown children who continue to live with their parents.

Ford and O'Sullivan are excellent. Hutton and Stevens are good. Co-stars include Lloyd Nolan as the mayor, Jane Wyatt as a family friend, Henry Jones as the doctor, Jesslyn Fax as the saleslady, Claude Stroud as the out-of-town friend, and Timothy Hutton as the boy.

When Warners bought the rights to the play, they intended to get big-name stars but eventually went with the original Broadway stars and it's a good thing. Ford and O'Sullivan know their characters inside out.