Synopsis
Meet two outrageous guys having the time of their lives on the riviera!
Two men show up claiming to be the grandfather of a child heiress.
Better Late Than Never
1983 Directed by Bryan Forbes
Studios
Countries
Language
Alternative Titles
Ménage à trois, Ein Opa kommt selten allein, Profumo di mare
Genre
Releases by Date
Theatrical
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Spain
15 Apr 1983
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USAPG
Releases by Country
Spain
21 Feb 1983
- Theatrical
USA
15 Apr 1983
- TheatricalPG
Popular reviews
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Not necessarily a bad movie or anything but extremely cheesy and not really funny at all.
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For 20 years – 1983-2003 – I worked as a film reviewer for the celebrated American trade paper Variety. During this period, I became the only Variety reviewer to cover a film that had its world premiere on a plane. The film was BETTER LATE THAN NEVER (1982), a comedy starring David Niven (in his penultimate role) and Maggie Smith. The director was Bryan Forbes, who had made outstanding films early in his career – WHISTLE DOWN THE WIND (1961) and SEANCE ON A WET AFTERNOON (1963) among them.
But this film had been shelved by its distributor, Warner Bros,…
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*Watched on VHS*
Recently featured on the Video Archives podcast.
Wow only 44 people have marked this as watched and this is only the 2nd review of it!
Pleasant enough, but instantly forgettable. But I am surprised by how little seen it appears to be. Seems like a good movie to show on TV over and over again.
Art Carney pretty much saves the whole thing. The little girl is cute but wore out her welcome fairly quickly. Maggie Smith is always fun to watch and David Niven looks like he just woke up for most of the running time. (That may be due to the state of his health at the time, so I don't want to knock him for it. His performance works nevertheless.)
Quentin was right to point out Lionel Jeffries performance as Hargreaves. He definitely makes the most of his one scene.
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Apparently everyone in this movie is a Casablanca fan, even the 10 year old girl. There are some funny scenes and lines, and the director did a good job with the pacing. I guess paternity tests didn’t exist back in the 80s. Cute story, good acting, witty dialogue. Not a bad movie.
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Feels like the sort of nonthreatening comedy you might see put on stage by your local dinner theatre. Appreciated the performances by Maggie Smith and Catherine Hicks.
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David Niven, Art Carney and Maggie Smith in a Golden Harvest film? Nearly impossible to find, schmaltzy PG rated film that is more entertaining than it has any right to be. A few laugh out loud moments (mostly courtesy of Carney). Always fun to see Catherine Hicks show up too.
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David Niven and Art Carney make this movie, playing off each other really well. The premise itself is a bit weak and it does stray into fairly sentimental territory.
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Nice little film about a girl that has lost her parents and her grandmother, and has to choose between two men one might be her grandfather. Nice photography, and Maggie smith does a fine job as the governess. Released after David Niven had died.
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Art Carney's performance in the Star Wars Holiday Special outshines his performance in this "rare comedy film".
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Enjoyed this more than I thought I would after weeks of trying to track it down.
Pretty sure Maggie Smith channelled the same energy for Harry Potter