Libramedi Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Lancoor A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

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

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

brando647 I purchased a boxed set of Mel Brooks' biggest hits because I'd somehow gone more than thirty years without watching BLAZING SADDLES and YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, and among the titles I was unfamiliar with I found THE TWELVE CHAIRS. This movie stands out from the rest because it wasn't the sort of Brooks film I'd come to expect. Brooks is obviously known for his screwball comedies and parodies, but THE TWELVE CHAIRS doesn't fit the bill for either. It's still a comedy but it's not the usual slapstick, meta-humor. It's a very straightforward comedy narrative based on a piece of Russian literature. It tells the tale of a former Russian aristocrat named Ippolit Vorobyaninov (Ron Moody) whose family lost everything with the rise of the Soviet Union. When his mother-in-law dies, she reveals that she'd hid her stash of valuable jewels in the upholstery of one of their twelve dining chairs for safekeeping. Unfortunately those chairs have long since lost to the Soviet government, but that isn't enough to dissuade Vorobyaninov and he returns to their former home to track them down. He's forced to team with a wandering conman named Ostap Bender (a young Frank Langella in his first big screen role) and the two of them race to find the chair before a corrupt priest (Dom DeLuise), who learned of the jewels from the dying mother during her final confession, can find them for his own selfish gains. It's a buddy comedy/road movie through the poverty-stricken post-revolutionary Soviet Union.Honestly, there's nothing truly amazing to make THE TWELVE CHAIRS stand out but it's still a well-constructed, funny movie and perfect viewing for a quiet afternoon when you aren't looking for anything too heavy. It's funny enough to keep the movie solidly entertaining for its breezy ninety minute running time but there aren't really any particular characters or moments that are all that endearing or memorable. Vorobyaninov is our main character and he's somewhat sympathetic as a man trying to regain his former glory but he's also vehemently selfish and borders on psychotic at times. All in good fun, of course. It was never his money to begin with and his former rich life was the result of his wife's family fortune, but he goes full blithering lunatic when the prospect of someone else finding that fortune is threatened. He only accepts the companionship of Ostap, the most identifiable of the characters from the audience perspective, because Ostap threatens to turn the information on the jewels into the government if he's left out. Ostap is certainly looking out for number one but he's also honest (as much as necessary) and trustworthy; he just wants the chance to escape his own meager existence of scrounging to survive. If he has to extort that chance out of Vorobyaninov to do so, he'll do it but he'll also be true to his word. Langella makes Ostap a charming rogue; he's got the air of a swashbuckler and the swagger of James Bond…a strong start for Langella's career.The plot is pretty simple. We travel with Vorobyaninov and Ostap as they track down each of the twelve chairs in search for the one holding the jewels, cheating, stealing, and bribing their way. Hot on their trails is Dom DeLuise as Father Fyodor, who is the more traditionally cartoonish character we expect from a Brooks film. He's never really a threat to their success (since he gets sidetracked on a wild goose chase from nearly the beginning) but he's got some of the funniest scenes. Mel Brooks also pops into the film for a quick in-and-out cameo as Vorobyaninov's drunken, sycophantic former servant Tikon, giving him the chance to steal the spotlight for a moment with his larger-than-life style. I really don't know what else to promote for THE TWELVE CHAIRS because, as I mentioned, it's a pretty straightforward affair carried by fun performances from the three main leads. I suppose people with interest in Russian literature will get that extra kick of seeing the story from Ilya Ilf and Yevgeni Petrov brought to the screen again. I'm not one of them. I'm not familiar with the authors and my knowledge of life in Soviet Russia is pretty limited, but some of the movie's themes (the "joys" of life in the rise of communism, embracing one's station in life and rising to challenges) shine through regardless. I might've preferred my new boxed set include THE PRODUCERS but THE TWELVE CHAIRS was certainly a pleasant surprise as a Brooks fan.

Alex It was hard to expect too much out of this apparently low-budget production filmed in 1970 Yugoslavia. The script is loosely based on a novel in Russian which originally did not center on treasure hunt but rather on the picturesque characters surrounding the three losers who could not fit in the new life.I decided to watch this as the only Mel Brooks film never seen before. Unfortunately I had nearly memorized the novel... and in my eyes the movie only reflected about 2% of the potential laughs, while I believe about 40% could be funny if it could make it in the script. The original material was not without flaws but it was mostly satire and drama, which was totally left out of this film.Seeing Dom DeLuise and Frank Langella 40 years younger was a surprise! They actually account for 50% of the fun, while the remaining half belongs to the brilliant acting by Andréas Voutsinas in the two minutes of screen time! Mel Brooks wrote the title song for the film, and the score is OK, but the scenery is out of place and dress designer had no clue about any Russian clothes.So, it's far from an average Mel Brooks film. Overall, I would still give it 5 out of 10, mostly for Andréas Voutsinas.

bkoganbing By the Nineties what you expected from a Mel Brooks movie was a satire of film genres, whether it was horror, western, science fiction, the backstage show business story, the fertile mind of Mel Brooks somehow skewered them all. He did one remake of a classic comedy from the studio era with To Be Or Not To Be. But most of his work was his own original take on a film genre. The Twelve Chairs stands out as an odd fish among his work.Although it has some very funny moments it doesn't quite come off as well as The Producers or Blazing Saddles or Young Frankenstein. Perhaps it was because Brooks was not creating his own original work, but was filming a play from another source, a novel The Twelve Chairs by Soviet Union authors Ilyiu and Petrova.Former aristocrat Ron Moody who was quite lucky to be alive after the Russian Revolution hears a death bed confession from his mother that the family fortune is in jewels that the Bolesheviks didn't get, but was hidden in one of twelve parlor chairs the family owned. The Soviets confiscated the furniture and sold it to benefit the new government.Moody teams up with young gentleman thief Frank Langella to try and find the one chair with the loot. They have a rival in fake Russian Orthodox priest Dom DeLuise also looking for the chair with the swag.Moody steals the show in this one, thinking about the lost life he once had and that the chair will gain it back for him in some measure, he becomes positively more manic as the film continues. His performance is a whole lot like Zero Mostel's in The Producers.Still The Twelve Chairs is not what I've come to expect from Mel Brooks. He'd do so much better in his next film, Blazing Saddles.

getlance-1 Ron Moody and Frank Langella are wonderful as the beggar duo and have some tender moments - especially for a Mel Brooks movie. I find their casting perfect and think that they work very well together. Dom DeLuise steals the show, however, as the greedy defrocked priest. His slapstick comedy relief contrasts nicely the more philosophical nature of the film.Granted, it's not true to the original book, but remember that this is a Mel Brook's film! It's a little dated now days, but still worth seeing. It's still the only time that I've ever fallen out of my seat in uncontrollable laughter at a movie theater. Watch out for Dom DeLuise going up a really big hill!