The Plank (1979) (TV)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Eric Sykes

Writer:

Eric Sykes (written by)

Release Date:

17 December 1979 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy | Short

Plot:

This is a pantomime about two construction workers, who discover that a plank is missing from the floor they are just building...

Plot Keywords:

Remake

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Eric Sykes	...	Larger Workman
Arthur Lowe	...	Smaller Workman
Lionel Blair	...	Paint-covered House Owner
Henry Cooper	...	Beer drinker
Harry H. Corbett	...	Amourous Van Driver
Bernard Cribbins	...	House painter
Robert Dorning	...	Fork-Lift Truck Driver
Diana Dors	...	Woman with Rose
Charlie Drake	...	Delivery man with cake
Jimmy Edwards	...	Policeman
Liza Goddard	...	Young lady helped across the road
Deryck Guyler	...	Milkman
Charles Hawtrey	...	Co-Driver
Frankie Howerd	...	Photographer
James Hunt	...	One-Eyed Truck Driver

Runtime:

Germany:28 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Barnes Pond, Barnes, London, England, UK

Company:

Thames Television

Trivia:

Basically this 1979 TV version was a re-make of the original 1967 Cinema film of the same title. Eric Sykes re-used many of the original locations including many parts of Barnes in South West London. Barnes pond is a good example where scenes were re-shot, recreating as close to the original 1967 film as possible.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Sällskapsresan 2 - Snowroller (1985)

A tribute to old-style slapstick

The Plank is a straight-forward slapstick short. To me, it summarizes the old-style slapstick of the old silent movies in a single movie. This means that some of the humor feels pretty outdated, like getting a cake in the face. But that is as it should in this movie. It is still very enjoyable. It has a wonderfully minimalistic theme, the transportation of a plank, executed with nice under-acting by Eric Sykes and Arthur Lowe.

So don't expect the British humor from the same times by Monty Python/Feldman/Allen/Goodies/Atkinson. Watch it as a tribute to the old classics. Sykes and Lowe do it the old way, and they do it very well. I laugh at the references to the origins as much as the jokes as such. I could live without the laughter track though.

Apart from Sykes and Lowe, the cliché old-times policeman (Jimmy Edwards) is wonderful, with mustache and all! Also, some scenes driving around with the plank are very good. As so often, the more subtle the humor, the better, and that is the case here too. The "delivery man" (Charlie Drake) is usually too crude (but necessary to deliver that side on the classic humor) as well as the painter, while the photographer, the milkman and the van drivers are funnier.

Chaplin and Laurel&Hardy are (mostly) funny even today, and this movie builds on their work. It is the 20's in color.