The Twelve Chairs (1970)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Mel Brooks

Writers:

Ilya Ilf (novel) and
Yevgeni Petrov (novel) ...

Release Date:

28 October 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

A wild and hilarious chase for a fortune in jewels.

Plot:

A treasure hunt. An aging ex-nobleman of the Czarist regime has finally adjusted to life under the commisars in Russia...

Plot Keywords:

Hidden Fortune | Russia | Chair | Con Artist | Soviet Union

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Ron Moody	...	Ippolit Vorobyaninov
Frank Langella	...	Ostap Bender
Dom DeLuise	...	Father Fyodor
Andréas Voutsinas	...	Nikolai Sestrin
Diana Coupland	...	Madame Bruns
David Lander	...	Engineer Bruns
Vlada Petric	...	Sevitsky
Elaine Garreau	...	Claudia Ivanovna
Robert Bernal	...	Curator
Will Stampe	...	Night Watchman
Bridget Brice	...	Young Woman
Nicholas Smith	...	Actor in play
Rada Djuricin	...	Actress in play
Branka Veselinovic	...	Natasha
Miodrag 'Mladja' Veselinovic	...	Peasant (as Mladja Veselinovic)

Also Known As:

The 12 Chairs (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-3 (cinema release) (1983) | Iceland:L | Singapore:PG | UK:U | Finland:S | Sweden:11 | USA:GP (original rating) | USA:G

Filming Locations:

Adriatic Sea

Company:

Crossbow Productions

Trivia:

Anne Bancroft encouraged Mel Brooks to write the music as well as the lyrics for "Hope for the best, expect the worst" and subsequently at least one song for all of his movies. She was 'like an angel on his shoulder' when it came to songwriting.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The chairs are supposed to be walnut which is a medium to dark-brown wood, but when they're broken a very pale wood is exposed.

Quotes:

[Ostap Bender is kissing a young woman]
Young Woman: Do you love me?
Ostap Bender: Let's just say that I am very much in lust with you.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Unscripted: (#1.5)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

Hope for the best, expect the worst

" I've Begged All My Life! "

In his lifetime Mel Brooks has created many motion pictures which have established him as an artistic genius. "The Twelve Chairs" is another milestone for him. From the very beginning of this film, to its ending, there is a sense of serious, but humanistic brilliance. The era is the aftermath of the Russian Revolution and a dying woman wants to clear her conscience and reveal her greatest sin. As thousands of the nobility are fleeing for their lives, she decides to hide her family's fortune inside the lining of a set of handcrafted chairs. That secret is her dying revelation and is said unfortunately into more than one set of ears. This initiates a mad dash for the lost treasure. Seeking the cache of jewels are three intrepid, but greedy set of characters. The first is incredibly talented Ron Moody who adroitly and brilliantly plays the legitimate, greedy and opportunistic son, Ippolit Vorobyaninov. Once a Marshall of the nobility, he is now reduced to a minor banking clerk and opportunistic son-in-law. Frank Langella is superior as Ostap Bender, a handsome, street-wise, traveling Gypsy, who also wants in on the treasure hunt. Finally there is Dom DeLuise who plays Father Fyodor, an Orthodox but impoverished monk who believes, God will help him find the elusive chair first. What the trio soon discover is that the chair is one of Twelve which have been scattered across the vast twelve thousand miles of Russia. If Mel Brooks sought to create an amusing memorable movie, he succeeded. By the time one reaches the end of this film, we realize . . . . a Classic has been born. ****