The Twelve Chairs (1970)

In 1920s Soviet Russia, a fallen aristocrat, a priest and a con artist search for a treasure of jewels hidden inside one of twelve dining chairs, lost during the revolution.

Director:

Mel Brooks

Writers:

Ilya Ilf (novel), Yevgeni Petrov (novel),

Stars:

Ron Moody, Frank Langella, Dom DeLuise

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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
Mladen 'Mladja' Veselinovic	...	Peasant (as Mladja Veselinovic)

Storyline

A treasure hunt. An aging ex-nobleman of the Czarist regime has finally adjusted to life under the commisars in Russia. Both he and the local priest find that the family jewels were hidden in a chair, one of a set of twelve. They return separately to Moscow to find the hidden fortune.

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Plot Keywords:

russia | hidden fortune | written and directed by cast member | 1920s | furniture | 

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Taglines:

The man who made 'Blazing Saddles' and 'Young Frankenstein' brings you his funniest comedy ever...

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy

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Certificate:

GP

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Russian

Release Date:

28 October 1970 (USA)

Also Known As:

Las doce sillas

Filming Locations:

Adriatic Sea

Company Credits

Production Co:

Crossbow Productions, The Twelve Chairs Company, Twelve Chairs Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mel Brooks had problems with Yugoslavian extras who did not speak English. Some extras playing museum guards were to walk through the museum ringing a bell and shouting, "Closing time! Closing time!" The extras misunderstood and walked through the scene shouting "Cloakie Bye! Cloakie Bye!" Brooks decided "Cloakie Bye" was funnier, so he left it in the movie.

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Goofs

Railway workers club (last chair location) opening ceremony takes place in apparent autumn. However, when Ostap and Ippolit break in at night, there is lot of snow around.

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Quotes

Ippolit Vorobyaninov: [referring to Father Fyodor's being in drag and trying to steal one of the chairs] This is disgusting!

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Crazy Credits

In the opening credits the title of the movie is showed in Russian first (even with a typographic error 'Dvenadzat' stchlyev'), then it changes into the english title. The same happened at the end of the credits with the words "The end" (Konez), first cames the Russian word, than the english translation.

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Connections

Version of 12 stulyev (1966)

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Soundtracks

"L'Internationale"
(uncredited)
(the soviet national anthem)
Written by Eugène Pottier & Pierre Degeyter
played at the bureau of housing and at the opening of the railroad worker house by an orchester

User Reviews

Much Better Than Expected

I rented this film because it was the only Mel Brooks movie I hadn't seen. I had enjoyed all of his other movies and thought,"Why not see 'em all?" I thought since I hadn't heard of it it would be stupid. And, Man, was I wrong. This movie could be described as hilarious. I loved it. And it's not exactly like all other Mel Brooks movies. If you like Mel Brooks I recommend this film to you. Dom DeLuise is hilarious in this. Now go watch it with your family.