David AllsoppThe Twelve Chairs (1970)
April 27th 2011 10:27
Directed by Mel Brooks.
When is a Mel Brooks comedy not a “Mel Brooks comedy”?
After winning an Academy Award for the screenplay for his first feature, The Producers, and before the banner year of 1974 in which he released Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, Mel Brooks made a comedy which has been completely overshadowed by its neighbours in his filmography. But The Twelve Chairs is a film that deserves to be revisited as it is not only a enjoyable comedy but is also interesting to see where Mel Brooks could have taken his career if he continued to steer away from the brand of satire and farce for which he is most well-known today.
In a story loosely adapted from the 1928 novel of the same name by Ilf and Pretov, Ippolit Vorobyaninov (Ron Moody) is a dispossessed nobleman in the Soviet Union in 1927 who is summoned to the death-bed of his mother-in-law. She reveals that when the Bolshevik Revolution swept through the country she had sewn a fortune in jewels into the seat cushion of one of the twelve chairs from the family’s dining room set. Unfortunately for Vorobyaninov, the local priest Father Fyodor (Dom DeLuise) has heard the dying woman’s confession and has decided to abandon the church to find the jewels for himself.
Vorobyaninov soon meets the charming vagabond con-man Ostap Bender (Frank Langella), who manipulates his way into a partnership to search for the jewels. It is Bender who is the brains of the operation, and he soon takes charge of the search for the chairs, which they learn were taken by the Bureau of Housing and then split-up and sold-off. Their search takes them across the Soviet Union, with Father Fyodor hot on their trail.
A more conventional and straight-forward piece of character comedy than you may expect from the director, it is the relationship between Vorobyaninov and Bender that both drives the plot and gives the film its heart. Ron Moody takes Vorobyaninov through the gamut of emotions to great effect, and Frank Langella demands your attention as the charming con-man.
There are enough touches of the “Mel Brooks” we have come to know that the film still has his authorial stamp on it, and fans of his more satirical films will not be left entirely bereft. The opening theme song “Hope for the Best (Expect the Worst)” both sets the time and place of the film and has it’s tongue firmly in its cheeks. There are a number of sight gags as well, such as the furniture archives having a Bureau of Bureaus & Dressers sub-section. Brooks also makes a brief appearance as Tikon, the former servant of Vorobyaninov, and while at first it seems to be a performance from another film entirely, once Dom DeLuise goes over-the-top as the comic rival Fyodor the two types of humour mesh just enough to not be a distraction.
Brooks manages to draw the film to a fitting conclusion, not settling for an easy ending but finding the right point at which to leave these characters who have had to face some hard truths about the times in which they live. You will leave this film both entertained and satisfied.
Three jewel-stuffed bananas out of five.
When is a Mel Brooks comedy not a “Mel Brooks comedy”?
After winning an Academy Award for the screenplay for his first feature, The Producers, and before the banner year of 1974 in which he released Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, Mel Brooks made a comedy which has been completely overshadowed by its neighbours in his filmography. But The Twelve Chairs is a film that deserves to be revisited as it is not only a enjoyable comedy but is also interesting to see where Mel Brooks could have taken his career if he continued to steer away from the brand of satire and farce for which he is most well-known today.
In a story loosely adapted from the 1928 novel of the same name by Ilf and Pretov, Ippolit Vorobyaninov (Ron Moody) is a dispossessed nobleman in the Soviet Union in 1927 who is summoned to the death-bed of his mother-in-law. She reveals that when the Bolshevik Revolution swept through the country she had sewn a fortune in jewels into the seat cushion of one of the twelve chairs from the family’s dining room set. Unfortunately for Vorobyaninov, the local priest Father Fyodor (Dom DeLuise) has heard the dying woman’s confession and has decided to abandon the church to find the jewels for himself.
Vorobyaninov soon meets the charming vagabond con-man Ostap Bender (Frank Langella), who manipulates his way into a partnership to search for the jewels. It is Bender who is the brains of the operation, and he soon takes charge of the search for the chairs, which they learn were taken by the Bureau of Housing and then split-up and sold-off. Their search takes them across the Soviet Union, with Father Fyodor hot on their trail.
Mel Brooks, Ron Moody and Frank Langella discuss the finer points of furniture in The Twelve Chairs.
A more conventional and straight-forward piece of character comedy than you may expect from the director, it is the relationship between Vorobyaninov and Bender that both drives the plot and gives the film its heart. Ron Moody takes Vorobyaninov through the gamut of emotions to great effect, and Frank Langella demands your attention as the charming con-man.
There are enough touches of the “Mel Brooks” we have come to know that the film still has his authorial stamp on it, and fans of his more satirical films will not be left entirely bereft. The opening theme song “Hope for the Best (Expect the Worst)” both sets the time and place of the film and has it’s tongue firmly in its cheeks. There are a number of sight gags as well, such as the furniture archives having a Bureau of Bureaus & Dressers sub-section. Brooks also makes a brief appearance as Tikon, the former servant of Vorobyaninov, and while at first it seems to be a performance from another film entirely, once Dom DeLuise goes over-the-top as the comic rival Fyodor the two types of humour mesh just enough to not be a distraction.
Dom DeLuise is spoilt for seating choices.
Brooks manages to draw the film to a fitting conclusion, not settling for an easy ending but finding the right point at which to leave these characters who have had to face some hard truths about the times in which they live. You will leave this film both entertained and satisfied.
Three jewel-stuffed bananas out of five.
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