The Cavalier daily :: Thursday, March 25 :: University of Virginia Library

Mel Brooks could become a
great film comedy director. His first
film, "The Producers," certainly
proved that Brooks was capable of
developing comic possibilities from
the most outlandish premises. "The
Twelve Chairs" is not as
flamboyant as Brooks' first film,
but nevertheless is just as funny in
a different sort of way.

Hidden Family Jewels

The story, adapted for the
screen by Brooks, takes place in
post-revolutionary Russia, and tells
of a frantic chase to find a set of
dining room chairs that hide a
family fortune in jewels. The plot
has been done before in numerous
variants. In Stanley Kramer's "It's
a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," the
treasure was a bundle of cash
pursued by a cast of thousands for
over two and a half hours. It's easy
to understand how great the
temptation must be to make an
overblown production. Ideas run
rampant in a director's mind, and
the project gets wrapped up in itself
and suffocates.

"The Twelve Chairs" is a small
film that looks like a larger
production than it is. This is due to
Brooks' shooting the film in
Yugoslavia, which to my eye looks
enough like Russia that I'll believe
it is. An additional advantage to
shooting in Yugoslavia is that the
peasants look like genuine peasants,
and the buildings look old and not
like Hollywood sets.

The cast is excellent. The show
stealer is Dom DeLuise as the raving
Father Fyodor. Brooks' wisely
limits DeLuise's scenes to those
with the supporting cast, or permits
him to "solo" in several hilarious
scenes. Like Jonathan Winters,
DeLuise can obliterate the presence
of another actor and gives his best
performance when alone.

Poorly Conceived

Frank Langella's character of
Bender is not well conceived, but
the actor's comic skills do manage
to come out and shine. Ron Moody
gives one of his best screen
performances as Vorobyaninov, the
legal heir to the jewels. The only
word I can use to describe Moody's
performance is "touching."

The supporting cast is a highly
talented mixture of American and
Yugoslav actors. David Lander and
Diane Copeland portray a couple
who must deal with DeLuise's
attempts to steal their furniture
from their cottage in Siberia. Elaine
Garreau is the best supporting
character in the film, portraying
Claudia the dying mother who
reveals the secret of the chairs to
Vorobyaninov.

Successful Manipulation

"The Twelve Chairs" is not a
film that will constantly make you
split, your sides with laughter.
Brooks' film, in a way, reminds me
somewhat of Truffant's "The Wild
Child," in that there is a feeling of
nostalgia for old camera techniques,
such as dissolves and fast motion,
which recall silent comedies. One
other similarity is that the directors
are manipulating our feelings about
their characters. In the final scene
of the film, we are touched with
the condition of Moody and feel a
genuine sympathy for him while
laughing with him.

The film is several cuts above
most of 1970's comedies and leaves
me with the hope that in the future
Mel Brooks will be successful at
creating a balanced blend between
the zaniness of "The Producers"
and the humanism of "The Twelve
Chairs."

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