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The Twelve Chairs
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The Twelve Chairs (1970) More at IMDbPro »

Videos
The Twelve Chairs (1970) -- Open-ended Trailer from CBS/fox

Overview

User Rating:
6.6/10   1,673 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 31% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Ilya Ilf (novel) and
Yevgeni Petrov (novel) ...
more
Contact:
View company contact information for The Twelve Chairs on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
28 October 1970 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
A wild and hilarious chase for a fortune in jewels. more
Plot:
A treasure hunt. An aging ex-nobleman of the Czarist regime has finally adjusted to life under the commisars in Russia... more | add synopsis
Awards:
1 win & 1 nomination more
NewsDesk:
(11 articles)
Blu-ray Giveaway: The Mel Brooks Collection
 (From TheHDRoom. 3 December 2009, 10:16 AM, PST)

MovieWeb's 2009 DVD Holiday Gift Guide
 (From MovieWeb. 24 November 2009, 5:51 AM, PST)

User Comments:
" I've Begged All My Life! " more (31 total)

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
Miodrag 'Mladja' Veselinovic ... Peasant (as Mladja Veselinovic)
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Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Also Known As:
The 12 Chairs (USA) (alternative spelling)
more
Runtime:
94 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
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:

Fun Stuff

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. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When Ipolit and Bendor are running for the exit after breaking the last chair, the piece Ipolit is holding has a large crack in it. Yet when they run back in, the chair piece is intact. more
Quotes:
Ippolit Vorobyaninov: I am cousin Kiev, from Vorobyaninov. All of the Michaels are dead. more
Movie Connections:
Remake of L'eredità in Corsa (1939) more
Soundtrack:
Hope for the best, expect the worst more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
7 out of 9 people found the following comment useful.
" I've Begged All My Life! ", 7 July 2007
9/10
Author: thinker1691 from USA

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. ****

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Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for The Twelve Chairs (1970)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Top 7 Mel Brooks Films! MrWhiskers_III
Frank Langella valjeanlover
An undiscovered trasure. stalzz64
Hope for the best expect the worst losun
completely forgotten stevfins13
Is this the movie where... harrybon92
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