12 + 1 (1969)

Director:

Nicolas Gessner

Writers:

Marc Behm (writer)
Nicolas Gessner (writer)

Release Date:

1 May 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Mario, a young philanderer, receives 13 antique chairs in a bad state by inheritance and decides to sell off them to get some money...

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Based On Novel | Number In Title

Cast

Sharon Tate	...	Pat
Vittorio Gassman	...	Mario Beretti
Orson Welles	...	Maurice Markau
Vittorio De Sica	...	Carlo Di Seta - The Commadatore
Terry-Thomas	...	Albert
Grégoire Aslan	...	Psychiarist
Mylène Demongeot	...	Judy
John Steiner	...	Stanley Duncan
Tim Brooke-Taylor	...	Jackie
William Rushton	...	Lionel Bennet
Lionel Jeffries	...	Randomhouse
Ottavia Piccolo	...	Stefanella Di Seta
Catana Cayetano	...	Véronique
Claude Berthy	...	François
Marzio Margine	...	Pasqualino

Also Known As:

Douze et un (France)
The 13 Chairs
Twelve Plus One (UK)
Una su 13
Una su tredici (Italy) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

France:90 min | Netherlands:96 min | USA:94 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:M | Finland:K-3 (new rating: 2001) | Finland:S | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

C.O.F.C.I.

Trivia:

Terry-Thomas explains the plot of a book he is reading to Sharon Tate called "My Name Is Lust". The copy of the book he gives her has the title pasted over the cover of an existing paperback novel, the 1969 Corgi Books printing of "The Thing Of It Is" by William Goldman.

Movie Connections:

Remake of L'eredità in Corsa (1939)

"Who says money can't buy happiness?" ... "Those who have neither."

Barber in New York City inherits his great aunt's estate in Europe, but arrives only to find a run-down residence and thirteen matching chairs. Upon selling the chairs to a local antique store, he finds a note telling him that one of the chairs holds $100K under the yellow upholstery. Would-be screwball farce is missing most of its screws, however the cast is intriguing. This served as the final film of actress Sharon Tate before her murder in August 1969; if the movie is no longer very funny, at least we get a good look at this beauty near the end of her life. Tossing off quips and jumping into pools and beds, Tate is very frisky and cute, but hasn't much of a character to play. The narrative is so gloppy, we can't even be sure how other mercenary players find out about the hidden treasure, and lead Vittorio Gassman doesn't have the loose body language needed for an arms-flailing farce. Portions of the film are well-directed, though with so much cutting, over-dubbing, and globe-trotting, it isn't any wonder the picture leaves viewers exhausted and unsatisfied. ** from ****