IMDb RATING
6.4/10
7.1K
YOUR RATING
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.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.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.
- Awards
- 1 win & 1 nomination
Andréas Voutsinas
- Nikolai Sestrin
- (as Andreas Voutsinas)
Mladen 'Mladja' Veselinovic
- Peasant
- (as Mladja Veselinovic)
Petar Banicevic
- Sergeant
- (uncredited)
Dejan Cavic
- Orator
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMel Brooks had problems with Yugoslavian extras who didn't speak English. In one scene, extras playing museum guards were supposed to walk through a museum, ringing hand bells and shouting, "Closing time! Closing time!" Instead, the extras misunderstood and shouted, "Cloakie Bye! Cloakie Bye!" Brooks decided "Cloakie Bye" was funnier, so he left it in the movie.
- GoofsIn the bureau of housing Ostap Bender, disguised as a soviet official, is writing with his left hand. However in the Soviet union, especially in the time the movie is set, left hand writing was not tolerated by the state and would be hardly accepted in public, as Bender is writing not only hidden behind the shelfs but was also about to write in front of Father Fyodor. Left hand writing was accepted in USSR only in 1985-1986.
- Quotes
Ostap Bender: [after yet another failure] Remember the famous Russian proverb: "The hungrier you get, the tastier the meal." On the other hand, the French have a proverb: merde!
- Crazy creditsIn 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.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Sneak Previews: Take 2: Who's Funnier: Mel Brooks or Woody Allen? (1980)
- SoundtracksHope for the Best, Expect the Worst
Music by Johannes Brahms ("Hungarian Dance No. 4 in F# minor") and lyrics by Mel Brooks
Featured review
A slapstick farce with a human side
Fans of Mel Brooks' 'The Producers' will find particular delight in 'The Twelve Chairs'; the two are of a distinctly different style than the more biting parodies that make up his later works.
'The Twelve Chairs' is not a new story, even by 1970 standards. The chase for treasure is an often-used hook to hang a madcap plot. Slapstick and physical humor are employed liberally, most effectively by Dom Deloise as Father Fyodor, the Russian priest who has turned on the church to join in the run for the jewels. His adventures as he is sidetracked to Siberia by the self-described 'handsome young desperado' Ostap Bender (Frank Langella) are funny and completely in character.
What makes 'The Twelve Chairs' different is its human side. The former Russian nobleman I.M. Vorobyaninov is portrayed by Ron Moody perfectly: now reduced to a file clerk, he still lives in his pre-Revolutionary past, flatly refusing to beg when he and Bender are down to their last few rubles and still in pursuit of the chairs. The audience roots for the flashy, smart Bender but also for the pitiable Vorobyaninov as his character grows through the experience.
Characters we meet along the way define other human conditions (the traveling show producer's haughtiness, his assistant's greed, the railworkers' pride). These elements make 'The Twelve Chairs' more like 'The Producers' than 'High Anxiety,' and a film worthy of a listing with Brooks' best.
'The Twelve Chairs' is not a new story, even by 1970 standards. The chase for treasure is an often-used hook to hang a madcap plot. Slapstick and physical humor are employed liberally, most effectively by Dom Deloise as Father Fyodor, the Russian priest who has turned on the church to join in the run for the jewels. His adventures as he is sidetracked to Siberia by the self-described 'handsome young desperado' Ostap Bender (Frank Langella) are funny and completely in character.
What makes 'The Twelve Chairs' different is its human side. The former Russian nobleman I.M. Vorobyaninov is portrayed by Ron Moody perfectly: now reduced to a file clerk, he still lives in his pre-Revolutionary past, flatly refusing to beg when he and Bender are down to their last few rubles and still in pursuit of the chairs. The audience roots for the flashy, smart Bender but also for the pitiable Vorobyaninov as his character grows through the experience.
Characters we meet along the way define other human conditions (the traveling show producer's haughtiness, his assistant's greed, the railworkers' pride). These elements make 'The Twelve Chairs' more like 'The Producers' than 'High Anxiety,' and a film worthy of a listing with Brooks' best.
helpful•143
- jmilani
- Jul 29, 1998
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Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $1,806,258
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