Twelve Chairs cover art

Twelve Chairs Details

1970 Certificate U
  • Rated:
  • 50
  • from 372 members

A stylish, frantic fable and one of director Mel Brooks's earliest films, 'The Twelve Chairs' is a madcap mystery set in revolutionary Russia. An aging ex-nobleman of the czarist regime, Count I.M. Vorobyaninov, has finally adjusted to life under the commissars in Russia. But when both he and the local priest, Father Fyodor, .. Read more

Starring Dom Deluise, Ron Moody, Frank Langella
Director Mel Brooks
Genres Comedy

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Twelve Chairs cover art

Twelve Chairs

A stylish, frantic fable and one of director Mel Brooks's earliest films, 'The Twelve Chairs' is a madcap mystery set in revolutionary Russia. An aging ex-nobleman of the czarist regime, Count I.M. Vorobyaninov, has finally adjusted to life under the commissars in Russia. But when both he and the local priest, Father Fyodor, find out that a fortune in the count's family jewels is hidden in a chair's upholstery the chair being one of a set of 12 they each separately return to Moscow to find the hidden fortune. Along the way, the count enlists the aid of a thief in the hilarious treasure hunt. Closer in style to 'The Producers' than many of Brooks' other spoofs, 'The Twelve Chairs' is an overlooked comedy gem. DeLuise gives an uproarious performance in which he employs slapstick and physical humour liberally. There is a human side to this film, too, just as there was with Zero Mostel's character, Max Bialystock, in 'The Producers', in the form of Moody's Vorobyaninov. Based on a Russian novel, 'The Twelve Chairs' marries neurotic humor and cultural dilemmas in the same vein as Woody Allen films in later years.

Starring Dom Deluise, Ron Moody, Frank Langella
Director Mel Brooks
Studio 20TH CENTURY FOX HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Run time DVD: 1 hr 29 mins
Certificate Certificate U
Genres Comedy
Language DVD: English
Hearing-impaired English
Released DVD: 26 Dec 2005
Production year: 1970
Format DVD

  • Critics' reviews (3) of Twelve Chairs

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  • 3 stars out of 5

    Russian bureaucrat Ron Moody learns that his mother is dying and races home, only to be told that she has hidden the family fortune in one of 12 dining chairs left in their ancestral home. He hurries home, only to find the chairs have gone to the Ministry of Housing to be relocated. Moody teams up with a young con man (Frank Langella) and the pair go off in search of the chairs. Mel Brooks's second feature (following The Producers) is a sustained laugh-fest with a much more disciplined plot than his later works. An old story perhaps, and primitive in parts, but there is still much to enjoy here.

    • Radio Times
    • Posted 29 Jan 2006

  • Tedious Mel Brooks romp with not too many laughs, from a yarn better handled in Keep Your Seats Please and It's in the Bag, from both of which he might have learned something about comedy timing.

    • Halliwell's Film Guide
    • Posted 02 Mar 2006

  • Most helpful member's review of Twelve Chairs

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  • 1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

    Rated - 0 stars

    twelve tears

    if you watch this film right through to the end, you might well be satisfied.

    Unfortunately I cannot comment, because I was unable to watch it beyond twenty minutes!

    Thoroughly tedious, not at all funny, no pace, nothing to commend it at all.

    a big disappointment, as i have liked most of mel's stuff in the past.

      • A customer from Dornoch
      • Posted 05 Feb 2009 16:46

  • Most recent members' review of Twelve Chairs

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  • Rated - 2 stars [Highly rated reviewer]

    Dissapointing

    Not Mel Brooks' best work by a long shot.

    If you're absolutely, bleary-eyed, arse-droopingly bored, then you might find some (very) light relief here. Otherwise, best to give it a miss, mate.

      • BigMeUp from Midlands, UK
      • Posted 24 Mar 2009 18:45

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      • A stylish, frantic fable and one of director Mel Brooks's earliest films, 'The Twelve Chairs' is a madcap mystery set in revolutionary Russia. An aging ex-nobleman of the czarist regime, Count I.M. ...