Christmas Carol-a-Thon 2025 comes to a close with this review of an Italian film adaptation of the Dickens novel.
NON E MAI TROPPO TARDI aka It’s Never Too Late (1953) – This is one of the few Italian movie adaptations of A Christmas Carol, so that alone makes it worth seeking out for obsessive Carol fans like me.
And speaking of obsessive fans, if you’re part of Marcello Mastroianni’s well-deserved legion of devotees, DON’T be fooled by the way some ads for It’s Never Too Late make it seem like the Italian actor is one of the stars. He has a very small role but after he became a big name in the industry this flick was hyped as a Mastroianni vehicle.
The misdirection went so far as to list Marcello’s name above the actual star Paolo Stoppa in the movie’s re-release title A Wonderful Night (Una Notte Meravigliosa).
It’s Never Too Late was directed by Filippo Walter Ratti, who cowrote the screenplay alongside Piero Regnoli. The aforementioned Paolo Stoppa starred as Antonio Trabbi, the movie’s Scrooge stand-in. Trabbi almost redefines “usury” as he ruthlessly exploits the people who come to him for loans, often after huge gambling losses. Continue reading
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