Prototype family for All in the Family
Never Too Late's director was Bud Yorkin, exec producer of All in the Family, and he either created the family dynamic in NTL & later re-used it for All in the Family or co-opted the NTL play's source material family dynamic for AITF.
The most obvious is that both wife's names is Edith, and both come across as dutiful but distracted, yet mystically founded beyond the wisdom of the patriarch.
The patriarch is blustery in both - and ridiculously funny in put downs. Paul Ford snaps off some bad-ass cracks/snaps in NTL, as sharp as in any mid-60s comedy. O'Connor updated the style to spice it up with racist agitation. Both Ford & O'Connor, die hard Republicans, also wear the generic white shirt tucked into grey trousers - and while cantankerous, are essentially loving & loveable...
Sally Struthers mimics NTL's Connie Stevens in AITF and could swear Yorkin just showed Struthers a copy of NTL and said: do her. Sexy, blonde, pert but a bit dim... Probably Steven's best acting job, given she gets to be a bit more spunkier than Struthers was usually offered...
Hutton is his own kind of wonderful in NTL, but the Reiner Stivic character essentially functions the same as Hutton in NTL: no respect from the in-law dad, not man enough to live on his own and support his wife, always in disagreement with the patriarch.
Love NTL, as well as the first few seasons of AITF. Forgot about this movie over time and was shocked into realizing this '65 flick anticipates the '71 tv show in how the family portrays/interacts. A great dynamic - truly rewarding viewing...