The Plank

The Plank (1967)

You'll splinter your sides laughing at this classic of all comedies

A slapstick comedy about two workmen delivering planks to a building site. This is done with music and a sort of "wordless dialogue" which consists of a few mumbled sounds to convey the appropriate emotion.

Date of release
1967-05-18
TMDB
6.2 / 10 (35)
Runtime
55m
Genres
Comedy
Director
Eric Sykes

Casting

Interesting facts

The Plank is a 1967 British slapstick comedy film directed and written by Eric Sykes, and starring Sykes, Tommy Cooper and Jimmy Edwards, and featuring many of the top British comedians and comic actors of the time. It was produced by Jon Penington for Associated London Films.

Production

Two variants exist, running for about 51 and 44 minutes respectively. The film was reissued in 1974, with some scenes cut down or extended, and some put in a different order, with the music reapplied to suit; some voices were clarified.

Although a single plank was depicted throughout the film, two planks were actually used for filming: a thin plank for scenes where actors carry the plank, and a thicker plank for scenes where it is being transported on the Morris Eight and for scenes where a thicker stronger plank was required. In December 2011, one of these planks from the film was sold at auction for £1,050.

Dermot Kelly is often listed as "Concertina Man" or "Affluent Concertina Man", instead of "Milkman". Johnny Speight is often listed as "Chauffeur", "Concertina Man's Chauffeur" or "Concertina Man's Father", instead of "Pipe Smoker in Bus Queue".

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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