12 stulyev (1971)

Alternative spellings: 12 stulev; Dvenadtsat stulyev

English title: The Twelve Chairs

Based on the novel by Ilya Ilf and Yevgeni Petrov, first published in 1928.

USSR, 1927. A dying woman reveals to her son-in-law that she hid the family diamonds in one of the twelve chairs from her household's old furniture, which was seized by the Bolsheviks. Her son-in-law, in association with a con man, search all through Russia for the chair which contains the diamonds. The priest who gave the woman the last rites overhears her revelation and goes chair hunting too.

Bland comedy which has enough pace, energy and farcical humor to keep a moderately demanding viewer moderately entertained. The actors are good, and the production values are satisfactorily high.

IMDB says the aspect ratio is 1.37; the version I saw was formatted in a 1.78 aspect ratio.

Rating: 41