American Reacts to The Plank (1967) 🇬🇧🎞🤣

[@SoGal_YT]

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[@kenchristie9214]

The Plank with Arthur Lowe is far funnier.

[@BonrekTheOrc]

The striped band that the policeman kept taking off and putting back on his sleeve was a "Duty armband." This was worn by all uniformed policemen up until 1968 and indicated that the policeman was on duty, and they would remove the armband when off duty as we saw the policeman in this film do when he first entered. FYI the remake of this is a lot better.

[@sicknote1558]

You really need to watch the original 1960s dads army with Arthur lowe absolutely fantastic absolutely really recommended

[@Seele2015au]

@@kenchristie9214 I like the later version with Arthur Lowe: FYI Eric Sykes kept the rights to the concept of the film, and when he switched network he was able to remake it with some improvements along the way: he managed to reduce the number of words spoken in the entire film to two.

[@andrewclayton4181]

I saw the remake of the plank once as an extra on a comedy tape. I wasn't impressed. Apart from losing some of the character chemistry, it is only half an hour long, so stuff has been cut. Maybe watching the jokes replayed spoiled it.

[@atorthefightingeagle9813]

Tommy Cooper literally died on stage during his act broadcast live on national TV in 1984. The audience laughed thinking it was part of the act. I still remember my teacher at school telling the class about it the next day. He was huge on British TV in the 1970's with his deliberately bad magic tricks and is well worth checking out.

[@2opler]

I saw that. It wasn`t news `till the day after.

[@1oldgit]

He had huge feet lol!!!!

[@kylereese4822]

I remember seeing that.....

[@michaelbarton2401]

I remember laughing at it at the time. I was gutted the following day when it was on the news.

[@franl155]

I remember seeing it on TV. He collapsed against the curtains and there was some uncertain laughter, then the programme cut away suddenly to commercials, and I knew it was serious - I remembered another live TV show that ended suddenly and unexpectedly when Charlie Drake was being thrown around the set, which was one of his trademarks. All of a sudden they lowered him out of the set window and the credits came up. I was very young, and remarked that that was an odd ending; my mother said that he'd got hurt and this was the only way to get him "offstage" during a live performance.

[@jonathangoll2918]

As your commenters are telling you, the joy of The Plank is that the cast are the A-list of traditional British comedy. It is typical of the work of the greatest of all our comedy performers and scriptwriters, Eric Sykes, and is very British!

[@smallfeet4581]

i thought it was tony hancock that did this film , saw it once years ago and always remembered it as brilliant

[@keithorbell8946]

@@smallfeet4581 Eric Sykes was the writer, he is one of Britain’s most underrated comedy geniuses. He wrote for the Goons, Tony Hancock, all the greats from the ‘40’s into the ‘80’s.

[@smallfeet4581]

@@keithorbell8946 yeah it that long since i saw it i was surprised to see tommy cooper was in it , must be about 30 maybe 40 years , i didnt realise i was so old 😒😅

[@dinerouk]

@@keithorbell8946 He played a muggle caretaket killed by Voldermort in a opening sequence of a Horry Potter episode.Nobody in the USA and few in England woul know of his comedic talent.

[@keithorbell8946]

@@dinerouk *Caretaker. I think you’d be surprised at how many British people know of Eric Sykes.

[@LincolnImp]

Oh boy... those credits held several icons of British comedy.

[@andrewcomerford264]

The story goes that Tommy Cooper (the first actor you see) started out as a serious magician, but one awful night, every trick failed. He was on the verge of tears when he realised the audience were loving it - they'd seen plenty of magicians being smooth, suave and sophisticated, but never one who came a cropper. Cooper literally died on stage, of a heart attack - the audience thought it was part of the act. Cars in the UK have right-hand drive, so that the driver is on the outside when driving on the left.

[@colinraine8245]

Jimmy Edward's playing the policeman was a well known comedy actor and had a great moustache... what many font know is he was a RAF pilot during ww2 and while supplying our troops at Arnhem he crashed injuring his face and the moustache was to cover up a scar

[@peterdurnien9084]

He was also a keen cyclist.

[@Mackeson3]

"During The War" as they say Jimmy Edwards was in The RAF and he was just growing that famous moustache . My mum met him two or 3 times as a young girl, at 'Dinner and dances ' as they used to call them back then. She said he had a habit of stroking that 'tache and saying " Look, it's coming along it's coming along !" They became dancing partners for a while but nothing more. Apparently to her he seemed to be the perfect English gentleman , sort of typical RAF " Rather wizard prang eh chaps?" he had impeccable manners, before he left he would always say "Thank you for the dance my dear" Anyway, from what I heard about J.E . later on I don't think they ever could have been any closer 😉

[@Hairnicks]

The chequered wrist band was used until the late 60's to signify that an officer was officially on duty, they were done away with and by the 70's we never travelled off duty in uniform but changed into civvies to go home.

[@alansmithee8831]

Hairnicks. Despite being a detective, my dad was back in uniform for court duty and made to travel in uniform to work "showing a presence" when county police replaced city police in the seventies, just as we had some cold winters. He missed the old cape. I know his old uniform was warmer. I had a pair of his old pants for gardening, woolen with truncheon pocket. There was a picture of him on traffic duty with those old cars as a young PC, like something from Dixon of Dock Green. That was still on TV to the seventies too, also like something from another time.

[@Hairnicks]

@@alansmithee8831 I was issued a cape when I joined in October 1975 and I used it a lot for many years, it was so warm, plus it was very useful for hiding contraband when someone gave you a small gift. Hard to believe it was getting on for 50 years ago now, it seems like yesterday.

[@alansmithee8831]

@@Hairnicks my dad was told by an old copper that a rubber torch in a cape pocket would leave no bruises. My dad said he never drew his truncheon. Mind you, he had boxed in Royal Navy. He got me a pair of boxing gloves and a punchbag as a tiny tot, but after I got hurt by accident, aged about six, I lost my temper and knocked him out. Just as well I did not get arrested for assault of of police officer.

[@Hairnicks]

We always used a torch instead of a rrunchein, if you hit someone with tour torch it was ignored, no paperwork, we were issued with rubber torches and then went out and bought 6 cell maglights, an amazing truncheon, but in evidence it was always just a torch and assumed to be the rubber ever ready issue torch. Great days.

[@stephenparker6362]

The police sergeant who appeared right at the end was played by Stratford Johns who played Inspector and subsequently Superintendent Barlow in two of the most popular TV crime series of the time, Z Cars and Softly Softly. At the time they were good.

[@tonym480]

Eric Sykes worked with Spike Milligan on many of the scrips for 'The Goon Show', a radio comedy from the 1950's that was in many ways a fore runner of Monty Python. He also appeared in the mid1960's film 'Those Magnificent Men and Their Flying Machines' that featured everybody who was anybody in British comedy at the time. It is a film that might be a contender for a Patreon movie night Sarah.

[@ListerDavid]

Ying Tong Yiddle I Po!

[@welshpete12]

@@ListerDavid 🤪

[@thedukeofnuts]

Don't forget "Monty Carlo or Bust"!

[@Sparks127]

Had the pleasure of sharing a theatre Green Room with Eric Sykes whilst this was on. He knew every line. What a Legend he was, and a lovely fella too.

[@proudyorkshireman7708]

The song is a old English folk song that was popular with the British army called The girl I left behind me.

[@chrisshelley3027]

In 77 my dad took my little brother and myself to see Eric Sykes in his stage show, initially I wasn't that interested, but it was far better than I expected, part way through The Plank was shown, I had seen it before, but it worked so well, I'm pleased to have seen Eric Sykes and Hattie Jacques live, Eric Sykes used to share office space with Spike Milligan and when Spike was ill Sykes used to write for him, this only became known to the public after Milligan died.

[@ajt22]

That was brilliant from two legends of British comedy in Eric Sykes and Tommy Cooper. You should watch more of them both if you get the chance. Fact of the day : Eric was profoundly deaf and later in life was registered blind.

[@johnbircham4984]

"First time I have ever seen someone being hit by a car and apologising" Welcome to the UK Sarah. In rush hour traffic a bus stopped to let me on to the main road. I couldn't see passed him so when he waived me through I assumed the coast was clear. Unfortunately a guy on a motor bike happened to be overtaking him. We collided and I knocked him off his bike. This being England it resulted in two guys profusely apologising to each other in the middle of a traffic jam. He was such a nice guy , I remember him saying oh forget it, this always happens to me. He seemed more concerned that his coffee flask was broken.

[@johnpotter4750]

Apologizing for the Plank Car Crash as you say, is unlikely as the tourist combo was a terrible pigeon hole/cheap slur... I apologise for the above !

[@davidgrainger5378]

The armband that the policemen was wearing used to signal tht he was on duty. This was perculiar to the police in London. They stopped doing that many years ago when they stopped home in uniform as they now change in the police station.

[@papagolf2355]

"The Plank" is one of the great British films of the period. Another, equally wonderful, film is "Rhubarb" from 1969 staring Eric Sykes and Harry Secombe consisting an entire film where the only word uttered is, well, "rhubarb"!

[@rorz999]

I had both on the same VHS 🙂

[@andrewbaker7839]

The main car was a Morris Eight - so later 1940s, and about 20 years old when the film was made.

[@johnpotter4750]

My father (mech) maintained our Town's(250,000) present M.P. Precious old Car, it looked a rusty wreck, but always tickled pink when the Police stopped his car, and could find no mechanical deprivations and no risk to pedestrians from rusty edges.

[@martynhill3479]

Another film on this style is "Mr H is late". I have a soft spot for that as it was a favorite of my father and one of the first things he recorded when we got a video tape recorder

[@johnbircham4984]

Oh my god what a cast. And the cat!

[@johnbircham4984]

Mind you I am glad I didn't have to watch it all.

[@rgadave]

The car is a Morris 8 Series 'E' post WW2 '49/'50-ish.

[@greygreen5610]

the taller of the guys with the plank ( tommy cooper) died how all comedians probably would like to go. he actually died on stage and initially the crowd laughed thinking it part of the act.

[@stuartjohnston926]

Tommy cooper was one of the greatest. Sadly missed.

[@montyzumazoom1337]

I've watched this lots of times and its still funny! Lots of famous British actors and comedians of the time throughout. Such as the late Jimmy Edwards playing the part of the policeman that doesn't really want to get involved! It's lovely to see you enjoying this🤣

[@susanashcroft2674]

I haven't seen this in a very long time and wow some of the things we took for granted back then would not be either PC or happen in todays world, such as it wasn't uncommon back then for men or women to hitch a ride, something you would not dare or dream of doing now. I smiled when I saw the car we had as a family, then the car I had when I first passed my driving test too. The passenger door once fell off after a relative slammed it shut and she had to spend the last ten minutes holding onto it till I could get it somewhere to be fixed!! Fortunately no planks were involved at the time!

[@bambazonke1013]

lol, my father was in the RAF with Erick Sykes and had met him (WW2)... he was a wireless operator apparently (radio operator) same as my father who had a very quirky sense of humor we would always listen to Round the Horn, re-runs of the I.T.M.A. show, the Goons. but he was a great fan of Sykes.

[@andrewclayton4181]

I read sykes auto biography. He joined the RAF and became radio operator, and was then posted as a liaison officer to the army, so he didn't mix with any RAF personnel for the rest of the war.

[@greyman3515]

There is a similar style comedy called Rhubarb where the only word spoke is 'rhubarb'. Rhubarb was apparently one of the words they asked extras in the background in movies to say to mimic conversation. I love these movies with a touch of the surreal. Nice reaction, the Brits seem to still have the capacity to surprise you.

[@abzzeus]

There was a movie where they used navy ratings as extras, and told them to say rhubarb as as way to simulate general background conversation. Cue action and every sailor say rhubarb in chorus

[@eyesofisabelofficial]

The car is a Morris Eight Series E (1938-48) With a "J" at the beginning of the number plate It would be about 20 years old at the time of filming. The thing on the cops wrist is his rank, he takes it of when he's going off duty, but he never gets a chance to do so. The guy in white overalls is Carry-On star Jim Dale , who would be known for his portrayal of PT Barnum on Broadway. The bus driver is in the front cab so would not smell the unfortunate man. The waiter (in red) was Jimmy Tarbuck scouse comic, and father of sitcom actress Liza Tarbuck The van driver who picks up the hitch hiker is Graeme Starke (father of model Koo Starke) Van driver with eye patch is comedy stalwart John Junkin The hole in the front of the Ford lorry is the fresh air vent for the drivers cab. UDC = Urban District Council (see Map Men) The refuse lorry driver is Kenny Lynch, scouse comic and pop crooner. Police Station Sergeant is Stratford Johns usually seen in serious police dramas. It always came across as random and not as focused as classic Buster Keaton or Harold lloyd.

[@paulnicoll2580]

Kenny Lynch was from London’s East End?

[@paulnicoll2580]

Koo Stark was from the US? No relation to Graham Stark?

[@rgadave]

A couple more to watch are 'Futtocks End' and 'It's Your Move'. Visual rather than verbal.

[@afpwebworks]

Part of the appeal of this film was the star-spotting opportunities. IT would have meant many of the jokes in this film would have been cultural references. For example . The guy who was sitting in the pub and had his beer go missing was a heavyweight boxing champion (Henry Cooper I think ) that had just had a fight against the great Muhammad Ali. Most of the people in the movie were comedy stars in Britain - there were a great many of them back in those days. Of course they were all out of their normal character. This was 1967, the height of teh 'swinging sixties' when it wasn't at all unusual for a girl to hitchhike somewhere. I'm not sure any girl would automatically plonk herself between two men - complete strangers - at any time in history but it was necessary for the joke.

[@peterjackson4763]

I think the Cooper-Cassius Clay fight was a few years earlier in 1963 (before he changed his name to Ali). Clay was winning when Cooper knocked him down. As he later said “Henry Cooper hit me so hard my ancestors in Africa felt it.” Clay was saved by the bell and won the following round, but that punch ensured Cooper's fame. They had a rematch in 1966 which Cooper also lost.

[@Ripper36068]

The Plank was and still is a true iconic British comedy and featured many talented and well loved British stars! I hope you enjoyed it!! You should watch Mr H is Late , too!

[@neilcampbell9383]

They used to show Harold Lloyd on Saturday mornings in the 80s on BBC2 (I think). So inventive, so clever and funny as well. Loved those films 🙂👍🙂

[@twittykins]

Wheeler and Woolsey used to be on in the mornings on BBC 2 as well.

[@robertwilloughby8050]

Harold Lloyd was also not unknown to be on Friday afternoons, too. Sometimes it would be either Charlie Chaplin or the Keystone Kops instead, but it was usually Harold Lloyd.

[@kendee4421]

The striped armband showed a constable was on duty. The joke is he had finished a long shift, got on his bike to go home and got involved in all this. He just wanted to go home. Those lorries had a flap that was lifted as a ventilator, so that is why it had a gap. This came out about the same time as Monty Python started. The bit at the beginning where he shut the windows with no glass in because he was cold went right over your head 🙂

[@martindice5424]

It’s the CORRECT side of the road. As in most things, we - The Brrrritish- invented it so it’s our rules so THERE! Love your videos and your lovely American take on the mind boggling weird things we Brits get up to. Xx

[@patthehorse]

I'd go Romans for the roads and Benz for the first car?

[@jeanlongsden1696]

the intro shows Tommy Cooper, who was a comedy magician. the next one is Eric Sykes who had his own sitcoms (with Hattie Jacques) and was in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. the overalls they are wearing are called "bib and bracers".

[@markcopsey4729]

Hattie Jacques was married to John Le Mesurier who played Sgt Wilson in Dad's Army.

[@ajivins1]

Eric was also in 'The Others' with Nicole Kidman.

[@tonym480]

The Policeman is 'Professor' Jimmy Edwards who during the second world war had been a pilot in the RAF. The Dakota (C 47) transport plane he was flying was shoot down during a supply drop at Arnhem in 1944 during Operation Market Garden. The Sargent in the Police Station is Stratford Johns who was famous at the time for playing a police detective in the popular TV series Z Cars

[@melvyncollins7305]

There was a fair few of these 'silent comedies' made in the 60's/70's, one of my favourites was called Simon Simon, it even had Michael Caine and Peter Sellers in it!

[@highpath4776]

Ahh yes, The Fire Engine and the Lamp Post Repair wagon ? Simon made (among other things) hydralic inspection hoists that were lorry mounted .

[@johnpotter4750]

Seem to remember a film about cyclic removal men, start with a new married couple (moving out from a poor 4 room terrace house), to the newer house, the original couple moving (with hope) up in the world, (This carried on with comedy sections) this continued till the self made billionaire moved out of his mansion with minimal furniture, give the poignant view of a man going back where he grew up to finish his life, alone. A non-rat race, simple life in a poor 4 room terrace. Wordless Comedy with the Cycle of Life !

[@Macilmoyle]

11:52 The tune is from the old English folk song, The Girl I Left Behind Me. Miller included it in American Patrol

[@afpwebworks]

The song is part of American culture too, being recognised there as a civil war tune. IT would have travelled across to the New World with Celtic folk traditions.

[@paulkennedy8701]

@@afpwebworks Probably with not with Celtic folk traditions if it's an English folk song.

[@afpwebworks]

@@paulkennedy8701 Fair enough. It would no doubt have come to America with English settlers then. But it's definitely included amongst Civil War Era songs in the USA.

[@afpwebworks]

@@paulkennedy8701 kzbin.info/www/bejne/b6fRhWiErp18apo

[@paulkennedy8701]

@@afpwebworks Oh. Absolutely. It's just that English is not Celtic. There's a lot of sharing of folk songs. And other folk things. The folk move from one part of the world to another, but they maintain (and develop) the same folk things. There seems to be a lot of parochial and proprietary attitudes these days, with some folk believing that their version of a particular tune is the only legitimate one, or that their version of football is the only entitled to be called by that name. It all seems a bit silly.

[@rayraamsalu6092]

So many well known comedians from the 60s. Always a pleasure to watch. You may also like 'Dinner for one' staring Freddie Frinton I'm told that it's regularly shown on German television over the Christmas period.

[@rayraamsalu6092]

@tecdessus I didn't know that - it shows that good slapstick comedy transcends the language barrier.

[@garth8979]

Everyone seems to have missed Bill Oddie was the guy who gets pulled through the pub window. I grew up watching him in the comedy show the "Goodies" throughout the 70s and early 80s. The Goodies was also very much of it's time. Check out the Funky Gibbon song on YT. Dungarees, flairs, mutton chops... I do cringe slightly when looking back at the 70s now 😂

[@VEETEEARR]

What was going on at 26.00 was the man who had fallen into the dustcart had just stumbled passed, unnoticed by the arguing men, stinking of garbage. They then noticed the stink and each thought it was one of the others.

[@gmf121266]

This has got some great old English comedians in it. Tommy Cooper, Eric Sykes and loads more.

[@ftumschk]

Tommy Cooper was Welsh, but - yes - the cast is a "Who's Who" of British comedians :)

[@robertwilloughby8050]

Yes, Tommy was Welsh, but wasn't he brought up in the West Country? And by the time he was starting on his Magician career, he was a shipwright in Essex. Just giving extra info!

[@wesleyrodgers886]

Love this. My favorite version as well.

[@cogidubnus1953]

I think the music you were initially querying in the lumber yard was a combination of "The Plank", an original soundtrack by Brian Fahey (I think it sounds slightly "derived" from "The Girl I left Behind Me", an old British Army song, but still...) and a traditional air called "Here we go round the Mulberry Bush"... Seeing all those old cars on their travels made me feel so nostalgic by the way Thanks (I think!)...

[@nigelmcconnell1909]

Planks for the memories! 🙂

[@WJS774]

I like how they are acting like the empty windows have glass in them, even to the point of Cooper complaining that it's chilly because Sykes left the window open! 🤣

[@shoutinghorse]

In days gone by police officers were required to wear their uniforms at all times even when not on duty. The wearing of the striped armband on the left arm signified that he was on duty. This practice ended in 1968, a year after this film was made.

[@orwellboy1958]

The black and white wrist band that the policeman keeps taking on and off was used by police for directing traffic only.

[@tonys1636]

It was worn to signify that they were on duty as policemen/women were allowed to wear the uniform to and from the Police Station as facilities were limited in most of the older Victorian stations. No locker or changing rooms, some had no female facilities at all, WPC's had to use the bucket in the cells. The practice of wearing the uniform off duty was stopped in the early 70's. It is said that a copper is never actually off duty.

[@Macilmoyle]

@@tonys1636 You learn something new everyday. As a kid I was told by the local Road Safety officer that it indicated that they were on traffic duty, but you are indeed correct.

[@orwellboy1958]

@@tonys1636 ahhh. Thank you Tony, that sounds plausible.

[@markborder906]

Such wonderfully empty roads. I had forgotten what it was like when I was a teenager.

[@markstott6689]

We got shown this at school every year on the last day before the Christmas Holidays in the 70's aged 8 to 11. Proper film on a projector.

[@bulwinkle]

The tune is "here we go round the mulberry bush".

[@regd.2263]

The woman posing for the camera man by the horse trough is a Canadian actress Libby Morris still alive at 94 years. The the old car that was featured in the video was 1948 Morris Eight with suicide doors.

[@martinbell3302]

The duty armband was worn on the uniforms of British police officers from 1830 to 1968. So he had just come off duty, taking the band off and when he saw the Plank he decided to go back on duty puting it back on. The car was a 1937-40 "Standard Nine".

[@davidcorbett1713]

Watched this film again on TV last week . its a great classic comedy 😂

[@stephenparker6362]

Hi, Sarah, that was interesting I'd never seen it before. I think your word random describes it perfectly. Eric Sykes was a very well known writer and actor, he appeared in and wrote many comedy series. He was almost totally deaf and it is said he never heard the audience laugh. Tommy Cooper was a comedy magician well known for all his tricks going wrong. He died at the end of his act while on live television. They were both much loved actors of the time.

[@peterjackson4763]

He went deaf in the 1950s and later lost most of his sight, but continue to perform until the 2000s, appearing in The Others with Nicole Kidman and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

[@stevetheduck1425]

Most of the cast of this film were (some still are) popular comedians. Eric Sykes was a director, writer and actor, probably last seen in the Harry Potter film where he's the old man looking after a villain's house when the snake comes home. Tommy Cooper was a stage magician and comedian and also an actor. Minor name Bill Oddie was a member of a very successful group of comedians and actors known on TV as 'The Goodies' during the 1970s and still appears, I believe. Most have appeared in many films and TV series.

[@twittykins]

Try watching these British comedy classics: A Home of Your Own (1964), San Ferry Ann (1965) and The Sandwich Man (1966). They have similar levels of chaos to The Plank.

[@bernardsayers7978]

The arm band that the policeman keeps putting on is to show that he is on duty, this law was scrapped, just after the film was made. Now a UK policeman, by law, is always on duty, even if he is not at work. I think I'm showing my age by knowing that! I think that the remake was much more funney.

[@Macilmoyle]

48:47 The police sergeant making tea in the station was Stratford Johns, better known for playing the no-nonsense Inspector Barlow in the long running TV police serials Z Cars and Softly, Softly

[@paulkennedy8701]

I've only known him for playing an alien frog on _Doctor Who_ in the 80s, but there's a KZbin channel that's started uploading _Softly Softly_ , and it's pretty good.

[@Chris_GY1]

I remember watching the late Tommy Cooper (his catchphrase just like that) dying live on stage and tv most people including the host Jimmy Tarbuck (thought it was part of the act) who stars in this film with the late Eric Sykes and Jim Dale who starred in some of The Carry On films.

[@brooklynguy4331]

That “thing” around his wrist denotes whether he’s in official capacity or not. - BG

[@Warriorking.1963]

The armband the policeman was wearing some of the time, was a duty band. At that time it was worn by a cop when on duty, and removed when not. In times of emergency, if a large number of cops might need to be recruited very quickly, one of these bands was the only uniform they needed to be recognised as on duty police.

[@peterleswell6621]

They are driving on the CORRECT side of the road!!!

[@johnorchard4]

Up to the end of the 1960s British police wore a striped band on their uniform left sleeve (forearm). This was an indication that they were on duty. When this constable left the station he first took it off to indicate that he was now off-duty and going home. When he witnessed the man on the plank, he put the armband back on to show he was going to chase them. I was a teenager then - all those wonderful cars on the streets! I grew up in a corner shop, it was technically a Newscontob (News confectionery and tobacco) but also sold greengrocery, tinned and frozen foods - the signage outside this tobaconnist was bery common - those enamelled signs sell for a fortune today!

[@cliffhigson7581]

The 1979 version is on KZbin, I saw it about a month ago & is basically shot for shot of the original but it still works & it's a majority of new characters.

[@franl155]

It's a very idiosyncratic piece - actually an extended remake of a previous version in black and white, with Eric and Arthur Lowe. But it too was full of British character actors popping up all over the place. ps I think the striped armbands the policeman kept putting on was a sign that the PC was on duty; if he wasn't, they came off.

[@highpath4776]

I thought there was an earlier b/w version of this.

[@franl155]

@@highpath4776 - yes, the one with Arthur Lowe; it also has a different ending. But still full of character actors of the day, and a few surprise guest appearances I just searched YT, and it seems that there was a TV remake of the original film and that had Arthur Lowe in it, but that's in colour, so maybe old age is catching up with my memory - unless we only had a black-and-white TV at the time!

[@Luredreier]

41:25 Hitchhiking like that used to be super common in the old days, and still happens in Europe although it's nowhere near as common as it was back in those days.

[@ajivins1]

The barman sweeping-up the broken glass sees the feet and takes out a measure to size them up. Seeing they are very large he decides it must be a policeman-it's a common joke that policemen have big, flat feet, hence 'flatfoot'.

[@tedf1471]

The barman is Jimmy Tarbuck.

[@skipper409]

the tune they’re whistling is “the girl I left behind me’….. a military March

[@zaftra]

Believe it or not, you watch two titans of British comedy.

[@stephenparker6362]

The shop was a newsagent, shops like that are becoming much more rare these days.

[@Richard500]

That cast list contains so many names that came to fame over many years following this film.

[@bradmcmahon3156]

The policeman kept putting on and removing his duty armband. Originally police officers had to wear their uniforms at all times and the duty armband shows that he is actually on duty. Another minor joke is that people keep asking for directions to Malthouse Passage. That street is where the painter spilled the red paint, so they have all been there but cannot remember the directions.

[@Stafford674]

I watched this film as a kid when it came out. I have not recovered from the depression it put me into.

[@brooklynguy4331]

The car Eric Stlyes and Tommy Cooper drove was a Morris Eight - Series E, made from 1938 to 1948. I don’t know the specific year of this car, but it’s 20 to 30 years old. - BG

[@peterdurnien9084]

The hole on the front of the ford truck was a removable panel to gain access to some electrics and the windscreen wiper mechanism.

[@grahamtravers4522]

The police sergeant is Stratford Johns, who was well known to British audiences as playing senior police detective roles - so the joke is that here, he's just a sergeant making tea ... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratford_Johns

[@josefschiltz2192]

Barlow. And he turned up in Doctor Who a number of years later playing an alien toad character called Monarch.

[@MS-19]

My late Dad loved The Plank! He put it on for us when we were young and we found the slapstick so funny, likewise the gags including the milk delivery via glassless windows, car doors, navigation through the maze of planks, red paint mistaken for blood, false teeth landing in cement.... oh, and the cat! Director and co-star Eric Sykes had a great cast for this one - that list of names (sung aloud in a classic moment of 60s surrealism) is essentially a "who's who" of British comedians of the latter half of the 20th century, headed by the brilliant Tommy Cooper. I understand how disorientating it must be to see our driving on the left of the road. We are, I think, the only European country to do so; all the others (France, Spain, Italy, Germany) drive on the right. You really have the most wonderful, nostalgia inducing content, SoGal!

[@brianconlan4215]

They drive on the left in Ireland too (I think.)

[@MS-19]

@@brianconlan4215 Yes, that's right - I presume because of the shared land with the UK. I've driven in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, including crossing the border - blink, and you miss it!

[@tonys1636]

@@MS-19 A trick used to be played on American tourists when crossing into Scotland, the tour guide or driver would ask them to get their passports out an half hour before the border, after about an hour at least one passenger would ask "how much longer to Scotland" to which the reply would be "we crossed it half an hour ago".

[@tonym480]

also drive on the left, India, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Namibia, Kenya to name just a few

[@MS-19]

@@tonys1636 🤣😉

[@skipper409]

The striped cuff the policeman puts on is antiquated now. Formerly officers wore uniform off duty as well as on. To signify they were ‘on duty’, they wore the striped cuff. This died out around 1970

[@johnorchard4]

Many people of the age of Eric Sykes and Tommy Cooper never ever took a driving test. They were suspended during the second world war and those who served in many parts of the armed services were discharged with a licence if they had ever driven a military vehicle - even once!

[@teanosuger]

Cats getting under new floors has happened 😂

[@andrewcoates6641]

You asked about what Tommy Cooper was wearing and the answer is yes they are overalls perhaps better known as “bib and brace’s”, because they are basically trousers with an attached front panel ( the bib) and a pair of permantly attached braces on the rear. When the braces were brought over the shoulder they were hooked on buttons on the top edge of the bib. They were commonly worn by people in the building trade and other affiliated groups ( carpenters and plumbers) they were made of cotton drill and they were usually blue or white for painters and decorators. My late father wore them between his early 20’s and his late 50’s, on an almost daily basis, he was a builder and plasterer.

[@weedle30]

I watched it to the very end….. time spent that I can never reclaim 🙄😩😵‍💫

[@cliffordhurst2564]

There was another similar film produced about the same time titled "A Home of their own" dealing with the problems of building a new house. Hillarious.

[@robertphelps1574]

I believe Eric Sykes was deaf

[@steverpcb]

You will also like the movie Rhubarb (1969), where the only word spoken between characters is "Rhubarb" :)

[@lloydcollins6337]

The "Glenn Miller" tune at the beginning was to the tune of "The girl I left behind me" (AKA "Brighton camp") which is also what they were whistling at the beginning. It's an old British folk tune which was used a fair bit in the military too. An example of the song with lyrics: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pZPPd2x7pqpsiKM

[@peterjackson4763]

I saw Eric Sykes live several times. The last time he had the entire audience and the rest of the cast in stitches as he spent over a minute putting a coat on. He was brilliant. That show was Run for Your Wife

[@peterjackson4763]

I first saw him in a production of Big Bad Mouse in Jersey with Jimmy Edwards (the policeman). That show is famous for the two stars adlibbing and never being the same two nights running, as a result of the pair's original run in it.

[@brianlee7716]

The thing around the policeman's wrist is a 'duty armband' which they wore to signify that they were 'on duty'.

[@davidjones332]

Notice the policeman's look of frustration as he fishes the black-and-white cuff band out of his pocket. Back then, the band indicated a constable on duty, so he has obviously just finished his shift and wasn't relishing having to go back to work when he should be on his way home. Another long-gone period detail!

[@ulyssesthirteen7031]

Not seen this for a long time and i enjoyed it as a kid but not so much now. Interesting period piece though. I'm actually older than this film and tend to see older films as a product of their time and judge by todays standards and mores. That said, the segment with the woman in the van was a bit 'rum' to say the least. It's a pity the cast are unknown to SoGal as when you appreciate who the actors are/were, it's a really amazing cast of 50s/60s/70s British tv and film characters. One of them, Jim Dale, became relatively well-known in America.

[@ftumschk]

Jim Dale narrated the Harry Potter series of audiobooks for the American market, winning much praise and numerous awards for his work in that medium.

[@julzhunt7790]

This was one of my Dads (RIP 06/07/2021) all time favourites along with The Goon Show

[@u28909z]

Car is a circa 1948 Morris Series E. My father had one in the 1950's. A very under powered vehicle.

[@andrewclayton4181]

First builder and car driver was Eric Sykes, very funny comedy writer. Second workman was Tommy Cooper. His standard stage job was as a comedy magician, always wore a red fez as a trademark. The policeman was Jimmy Edwards. Often played a school master, and used to sport an enormous moustache that would rival your civil war general Burnside. The dust cart (garbage truck!) guy was Roy Castle. Song and dance man, specialised in tap dancing. Later did kids TV programmes. The painter was Jim Dale acted in comedy films rather than TV normally. Truck driver with an eye patch was John Junkin. He played the road manager in the Beatles Hard days night film. Police Sgt in the police station was Stratford John's, he was a straight actor. Played hard authority figures. Some of the other characters, I recognise but can't name, they were all regularly seen on TV in the 60s, comedy or kids programme's mainly.

[@Macilmoyle]

Jim Dale also wrote the song Georgy Girl for the film of the same name and won a Tony award for playing 'Barnum' on Broadway.

[@andrewclayton4181]

The woman in the window during the bicycle bullfight scene is Hattie Jacques. She was married to John Le Mesurier, the Sgt in Dad's Army, and worked with Eric Sykes for years, playing his sister. At the beginning when the taller workman, Tommy Cooper, is experiencing eerie laughter among the stacks of timber - I recognised that a lot of that laughter was Tommy''s own. He often laughed during his own stage act, and it's very distinctive.

[@brooklynguy4331]

16:56 They actually used two planks. One was thinner and lighter for when it was carried. You can see it being flexible when they carried it to unblock the traffic. The other was heavier and thicker for other scenes. Btw, the endings of the two version is different. (Won’t give any spoilers.) The second version is shorter being for tv , and some of the gags were changed. Eric Styles, the smaller chap in this vid, was the main writer and appeared in both versions. Most of the characters were played by known comedians from radio, stage, screen, andbg tv. - BG

[@amacater]

Some of the music in the background in the timber yard is, of course, "Here we go round the mulberry bush" - a child's nursery rhyme tune.

[@TheOverlord2010]

Back in the day the black and white police armband used to denote when they were on or off duty, so when worn it meant that they were on duty.

[@denisbriggs2992]

The armband was for when they were directing traffic. That's why he put it back on to direct the traffic held up by the plank.

[@TheOverlord2010]

@@denisbriggs2992 I stand corrected,

[@sophiebuckland8634]

The music in the lumber yard was "Here we go 'round the mulberry bush"

[@slackmack]

Funny how amongst all the old cars, the Mini looked out of place. As for apologies for getting run over.... it's quite normal in Britain that if you bump into someone in the supermarket for example, they'll apologise even though it's you who owes the apology.

[@Walesbornandbred]

Tommy and Eric are wearing denim dungarees, trousers with a bib in front and straps at the rear that go over the shoulders and fasten to the bib in front. Some don't bother fastening the bib they wear them as trousers.

[@G1NZOU]

44:04 Riley Elf, I have a sister car to that, a Wolseley Hornet. Basically a Mini with a different grille and a larger trunk, with hydrolastic suspension for a smoother ride.