Director George Abbott recalled John Wharton gave him the script called
Cradle and All. Abbott wrote, "It was underdeveloped, but it had good characters and a comic idea, and I thought I saw just what should be done to make it a hit. I was right; that's exactly what it became under the title,
Never Too Late."
Never Too Late originally opened at the Playhouse Theatre in
New York City on November 27, 1962. The play, directed by Abbott and produced by Elliot Martin and Daniel Hollywood, ran for a total of 1,007 performances until its end on April 24, 1965. In his book on Broadway
The Season,
William Goldman gave the play's success as an example of a freak success that can happen due to good reviews: Paul Ford has been Paul Ford for a million years, always the same, always wonderful. But on the night that
Never Too Late opened, the critics decided not to give the usual Paul Ford notice: “Mr. Ford struggles nobly with his material, but it is a losing battle.” That night it’s hats in the air and a 1,000-performance run and fortunes for everybody. There is simply no conceivable way of knowing when this contagion will strike the boys on the aisle. But one of the reasons that so many inconceivable plays get to Broadway is that when they're dying out of town they dream of the
Never Too Lates and come on in." == Film ==