Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

This is a hilarious piece of nonsense from a cast of very talented actors/comedians. Eric Sykes is one of the greatest comedy actors/writers that Britain has produced and this film should not be slated because it seems dated by todays standards (it was made over 40 years ago). The plot is simple, the story is simple, but the simplicity of it is its charm. It is a film purely designed to entertain and to make one laugh, it has no message or underlying agenda, other than to bring a smile to people of all ages and nationality. The cast are all masters of their craft, the pick of the 60's comedians, and all 'proper' comedians, they did not have to resort to shock tactics and foul language to get the audiences attention, unlike todays comics. It seems to have stood the test of time, for few people have never heard of it and it has often been referred to a a 'British Classic' .... and deservedly so.

I've just recently found a copy of "The Plank" I didn't know I had, I watched it and discovered that, yes, as one reviewer as wrote, it was good for it's time. The gags are slightly hammered home a little, but it does have it's place as a british short, describing: What times were like back then, in reality and as a movie industry. Eric Sykes is a clever comic actor whose timing is quite nice to watch, but here Tommy Cooper is more or less wasted. The colour and look of the film, give the impression that it was done by a die-hard Jacques Tati fan. Overall, innocent, good for it's time and (without patronizing) worth a look if your elderly relatives want a giggle if you can't find your Mr Bean Tapes.

No, this isn't a new starring vehicle for Keanu Reeves; it's a chirpy, cheesy British homage to the slapstick era.Though quite admirable for it's time, thirty-three years later The Plank has dated somewhat. This is the sort of comedy where you hear breaking window sound effects (though don't get to see the cracked window) and comedy music, cute cats and yapping dogs take a part. Tommy Cooper was a very amusing man who knew how to time a joke, so it's perhaps a waste of his ability to cast him in a nearly silent role.One pleasant thing about the film is that it is, apart from one or two light examples of sexism, entirely innocent, and can be watched by all ages. (Though look out for the newspaper advertisement for The News of the World, not covered up, which reads: "Pop Stars and Drugs"). Perhaps another example of this dated style is that the three black cast members all play dustbinmen.This was probably highly amusing stuff at the time, but looked back upon it doesn't really stand up. Seeing men jumping with rage till their false teeth fall out, or a man being pulled along by a car isn't that funny anymore. In fact, I remembered this film being a hell of a lot funnier than it patently is, and had my memory jogged by the IMDb: it turns out this is the first time I've actually seen the film, and I was thinking of Sykes' work for television in the late seventies/early eighties, which included Rhubarb, Rhubarb and a TV remake of this film starring Harry H.Corbett and Charlie Drake. Maybe that's why I was so disappointed as the '79 version obviously brought this tired format up to date, and, by all accounts, halved the overlong run-time.Ultimately The Plank can only be watched in it's own era. If you wanted the greatest silent comedy then you'd look to the more professional standards of the 20s and 30s (sound dubbing is quite poor here). And if you wanted to laugh at Eric Sykes holding a plank, then you'd watch the remake with it's laughter track half-way convincing you it's funny. For the '67 version there's the feeling that all of its heavily signposted gags don't have the pay-off they deserve, or that the pace isn't quite right. This was a time when The Beatles, The Stones and Dylan were redefining music. In the meantime, Jimmy Edwards was getting excited at young girls in miniskirts. But nevertheless, as a historical document, it's okay, one for a rainy afternoon when there's nothing else on. 5/10.

This film is actually quite good. Eric Sykes and Tommy Cooper are brilliant. But I would say this film is not one I would buy but one that is good to watch on TV.A myriad of stars usually mean a film is rubbish but this film proves wrong. The stars all have funny little cameo roles that keep you going "ooh I know him" and having to go here to look for them!