The Twelve Chairs

Director: Mel Brooks
Year Released: 1970
Rating: 1.5

Three men chase after a set of classic, British-made chairs in Russia, in hopes of tearing open the one chair that had valuable jewels sewn into the seat. I agree with Pauline Kael that the movie never recovers from the absence of the Mel Brooks character, as Frank Langella and Ron Moody don't have the same manic energy as Mel himself - Dom De Luise comes close, but he's not in the picture that much. While I was actually unaware of the novel this was based on by Ilya Ilf and Yevgeni Petrov, I figured an ironic ending about how chasing money will only leave you miserable and faking seizures for change would be forthcoming. Those Russians ... pfffft.