Product Details

• Actors: Enrique Santiesteban, Reynaldo Miravalles, René Sánchez, Pilín Vallejo, Idalberto Delgado
• Directors: Tomás Gutiérrez Alea
• Writers: Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, Ilya Ilf, Ugo Ulive, Yevgeni Petrov
• Producers: Margarita Alexandre
• Format: Black & White, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: First Run Features
• DVD Release Date: February 20, 2007
• Run Time: 94 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: B000KP62LQ
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #253,913 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Twelve Chairs" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

This classic story, also adapted into a film by Mel Brooks, is part of The Cuban Masterworks Collection. Beautifully restored, the five films in the Collection reveal a unique perspective of Cuba – one Americans are unaccustomed to seeing. Directed by legendary filmmakers, each is a worthy addition to the canon of great world cinema.The Twelve Chairs takes place in the aftermath of Cuba’s revolution, when property belonging to the rich is nationalized. On her deathbed, a wealthy woman reveals to her son-in-law, Hipólito, the hiding place of a fortune in jewels: inside one of twelve identical parlor chairs, taken by revolutionary authorities from her villa. Hipólito begins a comical hunt to find the treasure...but he's not the only one!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Ilf & Petrov, Cuban Style, December 6, 2011

By 

Pelaphus (Long Island City, New York USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Twelve Chairs (DVD)

Considering that the 1928 Russian novel by Ilf & Petrov has been updated to 1960 Cuba, LOS DOCE SILLAS (as it is called in its native language) is a surprisingly faithful transposition (sometimes a shocking one, as if to make the point that living under the regimes of 1920s Russia or 1960 Cuba is not so different). Indeed, this may be the most faithful version of THE TWELVE CHAIRS not set in Russia (the novel has been adapted for film and TV an astonishing number of times -- along with its sequel THE LITTLE GOLDEN CALF aka THE GOLDEN CALF -- but very few of those films have achieved the awareness of Western world viewers). And upon viewing LOS DOCE SILLAS, one gets the feeling that Mel Brooks took inspiration from it for his own adaptation (his second, least known, film, which was set in Russia and relatively faithful) released in 1970. This isn't a brilliant film, nor quite as sharp and polished as the Mel Brooks interpretation, but it's certainly a very good one. (For brilliant film adaptations of the Ilf & Petrov books, try to locate the black and white 1968 Russian movie of THE LITTLE GOLDEN CALF aka ZOLOTOY TELENOK [you can find a subtitled, downloadable version online] and the color 1971 Russian film of THE TWELVE CHAIRS aka 12 STULYEV [this is a little harder to find, and you'll need to download some poor subtitle files separately ... but it is SO worth the effort]. For those familiar with the books and patient enough to sit through hours of UNsubtitled film, the 1977 4-part Russian miniseries 12 STULYEV and the 2006 8-part Russian miniseries ZOLOTOY TELENOK are more readily available on DVD and very highly recommended too.)