MovieChat Forums > The Plank (1967) Discussion > Is there a version earlier than this?

Is there a version earlier than this?


I got a copy of this recently for my Father who for the last couple of years has been reminiscing about it. He swears the version he remembers was in B/W and had no sound and was done by either Eric Sykes or Tommy Cooper (I can't remeber who he said). The copy I purchased was this 1967 version, thinking that he might be confusing it and the remake from the 70's but after watching it he's adament about the details above.

Does anyone know if there is an earlier version of this? Maybe he's getting confused with another such skit. If it exists and is available somewhere I'd like to get my hands on a copy if possible.

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No, he's not confused - the idea for "The Plank" grew out of an episode of Eric's TV series, "Sykes", from the early 1960's, in which he and Hat get into all kinds of scrapes bringing home a plank from a woodyard (shown on BBC circa 1964, I think). I'm not sure if any copies of that episode still survive though.

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I have all three versions on video: Sykes And A Plank (1964) appears on Comedy Greats: Eric Sykes (BBC Video), The Plank (1967) (Rank/Pickwick Video) and The Plank (1979) appears on Eric Sykes Silent Comedy Classics (Thames Video/VCI). I also have a dvd titled The Eric Sykes Collection (Thames/Umbrella), which has all four Thames silent comedies plus The Big Freeze (1993).

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[deleted]

There was also a remake, I think by LWT, also starring Eric Sykes and - amongst other comedy greats - Arthur Lowe

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Yes the 1979 version with Arthur Lowe was by far the best version by far.

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