Trivia / The Twelve Chairs

• Box Office Bomb: Mel Brooks joked during an interview with Dick Cavett that the film actually made a negative amount of money.
• California Doubling: The film is set in Moscow, but was filmed in Subotica, Yugoslavia (now in the Vojvodina Region of Serbia). The scenes in Yalta (on the Black Sea) were filmed in Croatia (which has an Adriatic coastline).
• Creator's Oddball: Though closer to The Producers' more grounded Black Comedy, it's also a complete 180 from the usual brand of farce that Mel Brooks would later be known for. In fact, it's the only film he's ever done that could be called a straight drama.
• Descended Creator: Mel Brooks played Tikon himself. Originally, a British actor was cast in the role and had planned to gain weight before dropping out.
• Those Two Actors: Mironov and Papanov duo in one of the adaptations.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Mel Brooks' first choice for the role of Father Fyodor was Peter Sellers. This proved serendipitous, as his second choice, Dom De Luise, would become a part of his regular staple of actors for the rest of his filmography.
  • Brooks originally offered the role of Ippolit to Gene Wilder. But Wilder wanted to play the role of Ostap instead. Brooks refused to cast Wilder because Ostap is described in the novel as "devilishly handsome". Wilder said that he was not offended by this, but still decided not to do the film.
  • According to Frank Langella, the film was originally planned to star Peter Sellers, Albert Finney, and Alastair Sim, with the role of Ostap only being offered to him after Albert Finney turned it down.

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