The Plank
The Plank – 1967 | 55 mins | Comedy, Short | Colour
Plot Synopsis
Largely a silent comedy replete with inventive visual jokes as workmen Eric Sykes and Tommy Cooper tangle with the eponymous plank. The Plank started out as a 1964 episode of Sykes entitled Sykes and a Plank, and was remade as a 28 minute for television version in 1979. This homage to slapstick comedy boasts a whole host of familiar faces including Jimmy Edwards,Roy Castle, Hattie Jacques, John Junkin and Stratford Johns.
Eric Sykes and Tommy Cooper are two inept joiners laying the floor of a new home; unfortunately they require one final plank to complete the task. This short charts the chaos they cause returning from thelumber year; including driving off with Roy Castle clinging to the troublesome plank on the roof of their car and stopping the traffic with policeman Jimmy Edwards in a discussion over directions to Malthouse Passage.
Production Team
Eric Sykes: Director
Mike Ford: Art Direction
Arthur Wooster: Cinematography
John Pomeroy: Film Editing
Frank Turner: Makeup Department
Brian Fahey: Original Music
Jon Penington: Producer
Eric Sykes: Script
Tristam Cones: Sound Department
Peter Lodge: Sound Department
Cast
Tommy Cooper: Larger Workman
Eric Sykes: Smaller Workman
Jimmy Edwards: Policeman
Roy Castle: Delivery Man with boxes
Graham Stark: Amorous Van Driver
Stratford Johns: Station Sergeant
Jim Dale: House Painter
Jimmy Tarbuck: Barman
Hattie Jacques: Woman with Rose
John Junkin: One Eyed Truck Driver
Dermot Kelly: Milkman
Bill Oddie: Window Cleaner
Kenny Lynch: Dustbin Lorry Driver
Johnny Speight: Pipe Smoker in Bus Queue
