The Twelve Chairs

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. ****

THE TWELVE CHAIRS is a different kind of Mel Brooks comedy. Its story, from a Russian novel by Ilf and Petrov, will seem very tasteful and human to those who are acquainted with Brooks' usual raunchiness. This movie is a nice change. Ron Moody and Frank Langella star, with Dom DeLuise and a special appearance by Mel Brooks as Tikon.

A long time ago, Mel Brooks had a subtle side.

Hard to believe, isn't it? The man responsible for such guffaw-fests as "Blazing Saddles", "Silent Movie", "High Anxiety" and such.... SUBTLE?

In "The Twelve Chairs", he does get laughs out of the story of a Russian nobleman searching for jewels sewn into one of twelve of his family's chairs that have been sold with the rest of his family's possessions. But not the way we're use to seeing Mel earn them.

This, time, he gets them through character study, human nature, individuals' reactions to certain embarrassing situations and, of course, good old-fashioned greed. And the laughs are there, to be sure.

I'm actually surprised that I liked this as much as I did. I'm used to Mel up there with the lampshade on his head, yucking it up with wild abandon. This film, subtle as it is, makes me laugh.

Of course, for purists, there's always good old DeLuise as another conniver searching for the same jewels. He makes with the wildness and insanity that makes a Mel Brooks film a Mel Brooks film, and he's a joy to see.

The others, Moody and Langella in particular, play regular human beings who see a situation, assess it and act as (nearly) anyone else would. More humorously, of course.

Seek out "The Twelve Chairs". Rare as it is, a rose by any other name....

And you know the rest.

Eight stars. Hey! Hey, hey, hey!

"Hope for the best, expect the worst", as the title song goes, is exactly how I felt when I picked up my copy. Having read the original Russian novel and being a fan of Mel Brooks, I was curious how the two would come together. I was rather apprehensive, knowing how Russian literature usually suffers in translation, but hopeful that Brooks would somehow make something of it anyway. The film disappoints on both counts - there's precious little of the original in it, and Brooks isn't at his best here either. Moody is actually OK as Vorobyaninov, but the casting of Langella as Bender is just plain wrong, as he cannot possibly convey the depth and subtlety of the original character. Langella alone is enough to kill this film for anyone familiar with the book. None of the uproarious humor of the novel is anywhere to be found, while the few semi-funny visual gags are merely typical Brooks slapstick and have nothing to do with the source material. And even those aren't among Brooks' best. However, having expected the worst, I wasn't exactly disappointed. An OK little comedy, if you don't expect too much. If you want more, read the book.

Knowing that Mel Brooks usually makes the silliest movies possible, it's a surprise that he directed the lightweight comedy "The Twelve Chairs". It portrays a former Czarist (Ron Moody, happy birthday!) and a young soldier (Frank Langella) looking for some jewels hidden in chairs in the Soviet Union in the 1920s. I will say that not much really happens throughout much of the movie, but it is a famous part of Russian literature. I haven't read the novel, but the movie is worth seeing, if only as a look at Brooks's early career. Also starring Dom DeLuise and Brooks in a small role.

Epilepsy...