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In my review of Simon Simon, I mentioned that “sound effect comedies”, which are almost entirely free of dialogue, were en vogue in the ‘60s and ’70s, as they allowed artists to realise scripts and ideas on a relatively small budget. For famed comedian Eric Sykes the silent-acting nature of the sound effect comedy held an additional advantage. Medical problems had led to Sykes gradually losing his hearing in the years after the war, and after an operation in the early 1960s he was basically completely deaf. Reportedly he was very good at reading lips to get his cues on stage or in front of the camera, but the idea of acting and interacting dialogue-free must have had a special appeal to him.
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Eric Sykes’s idea for The Plank seems to go back to at least 1964. Based on the tried and tested slapstick routine regarding the havoc a careless person can wreak with a plank or a ladder, a 1964 episode of his black & white TV show Sykes and a… was entitled “Sykes and a Plank”. 24 minutes long, this episode had a different plot and set-up than the later versions, and it contained dialogue through-out – accompanied by the occasional use of a laugh track. But in spite of the different plot, the core element of Sykes trying to transport a plank from the timber yard to a different location across town is already there, as are several set pieces that would be re-used in the later versions.
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Sykes’s 1967 colour short film The Plank has a much longer running time of 45 minutes, but the time is not necessarily used well. The film is rather slow – too slow, I believe – for a slapstick-based comedy. The funnier bits only begin somewhere after the 15-minute mark.
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As a slapstick-based comedy, the film’s humour circles around unlikely events and around instances of absurd cause & effect. In a departure from the 1964 TV show episode, dialogue does not play any role in the humour of The Plank; and the film models its acting and set pieces after silent films. Strictly speaking, however, it is not yet a sound effect comedy, because there is still far too much talking in this film.
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Eric Sykes is not only the film’s writer and director, he also plays one of the two lead roles, with Tommy Cooper playing the other. According to imdb, Cooper replaced Peter Sellers, who had to pull out of the film due to a scheduling conflict. In a change to the 1964 concept, Sykes and Cooper play builders. But again the central element is the need to transport a long wooden plank from a timber yard to a building site and the chaos this project is causing along the way. Smaller roles in this film are filled by comedians and character actors, such as Jimmy Tarbuck, John Junkin, Bill Oddie, and Roy Castle.
One of these supporting roles is filled by Graham Stark, who three years later would write and direct the above-mentioned Simon Simon, a sound effect short film that in terms of writing, staging, and especially cinematography is superior to any version of The Plank.
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There is not much else to say about 1967’s The Plank, which I would rate at 5.5 out of 10.
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Fast forward to 1979, and Sykes is directing a TV-remake of The Plank. The plot involving the two builders is basically the same as before, with Sykes again playing one of the two leads. The other lead role went to Arthur Lowe. But in this version, Lowe is sort of taking over the role that Sykes had played 12 years earlier, while Sykes this time is more or less in the role that had been played by Tommy Cooper.
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This version is trimmed back from 45 minutes to 28. And I believe that it is to its benefit. This shorter version is tighter and cuts back a lot of the “empty” space that the 1967 version contained, especially in the beginning. That way, the car journey of our two protagonists begins three minutes in, instead of eight minutes in. And the vast majority of the 1967 version’s rather tiresome timber yard scene has also been cut. So this new film very quickly gets to the point at which the two hapless builders are beginning to transport the plank back to the building site, which is the core element of the plot and its funniest part. The 1967 version had only reached this point some 18 minutes in!
Other than that, most of the set pieces of the previous version are also present in this one, but some are streamlined in order to fit the shorter running time and faster pace. As I just mentioned, I regard this streamlining and trimming mostly as an improvement.
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Another important change is the fact that this shorter 1979 version is actually almost fully silent, so unlike the 1967 version qualifies for the label “sound effect comedy”. Unfortunately, the choice was made (possibly by the TV station airing it) to accompany the entire short film with a laugh track, which seems an ill fit here.
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As with the 1967 version, a number of smaller roles feature amusing performances, often by well-known entertainers of the day – including Lionel Blair, Diana Dors, Frankie Howerd, and Reg Varney. For a modern-day audience, the most famous person in the 1979 version is probably Joanna Lumley (Absolutely Fabulous). Apart from Sykes, comedian Jimmy Edwards might well be the only cast-member of the 1967 version to return for the remake. He plays the police man in both shorts.
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As it is better paced and less meandering than the 1967 version, I would rate the 1979 version of The Plank at 6.0 to 6.5 out of 10.
Classic Comedy Corner 