''Thirteen Chairs'' (german: Dreizehn Stühle) is a 1938 German comedy film directed by

E. W. Emo E. W. Emo (Emerich Walter Emo, born Emerich Josef Wojtek, 11 July 1898; died 2 December 1975) was an Austrian film director. Emo specialized in comedies, 21 of them with the actor Hans Moser. He also worked outside Austria and wrote screenpla ...

and starring

Heinz Rühmann Heinrich Wilhelm "Heinz" Rühmann (; 7 March 1902 – 3 October 1994) was a German film actor who appeared in over 100 films between 1926 and 1993. He is one of the most famous and popular German actors of the 20th century, and is considered a Ge ...

, Hans Moser and

Inge List Inge List (1916–2003) was an Austrian stage and film actress.Von Dassanowsky p.394 Selected filmography * '' Grand Duchess Alexandra'' (1933) * '' Princess Turandot'' (1934) * '' The Csardas Princess'' (1934) * ''Mazurka'' (1935) * ''The Empero ...

. It is based on the 1928 novel ''

The Twelve Chairs ''The Twelve Chairs'' ( rus, Двенадцать стульев, Dvenadtsat stulyev) is a classic satirical novel by the Odesan Soviet authors Ilf and Petrov, published in 1928. Its plot follows characters attempting to obtain jewelry hidden ...

'' by

Ilf and Petrov Ilya Ilf (Ilya Arnoldovich Feinsilberg or russian: Илья Арнольдович Файнзильберг, 1897–1937) and Yevgeny Petrov (Yevgeniy Petrovich Katayev or russian: Евгений Петрович Катаев, 1902–1942 ...

, one of numerous adaptations of the work. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Julius von Borsody Julius von Borsody (8 April 1892 in Vienna – 18 January 1960, also in Vienna) was an Austrian film architect and one of the most employed set designers in the Austrian and German cinemas of the late silent and early sound film periods. His youn ...

. It was shot at the Terra Studios in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and on location in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Plot

A barber shop owner travels to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

to receive his inheritance from his late aunt. However, it appears all she has left him are thirteen old chairs. Needing to raise enough money to pay for his ticket back home, he sells them to a second-hand dealer. Only then does he discover a letter from his aunt telling him she has left sewn into one of the chairs. He now sets out to track down the various new owners of the chairs to find the hidden money.

Cast

as hairdresser Felix Rabe * Hans Moser as

rag-and-bone man A rag-and-bone man or ragpicker (UK English) or ragman, old-clothesman, junkman, or junk dealer (US English), also called a bone-grubber, bone-picker, chiffonnier, rag-gatherer, bag board, or totter, collects unwanted household items and sells t ...

Alois Hofbauer *

Annie Rosar Annie Rosar (May 17, 1888 – August 5, 1963) was an Austrian stage and film actress who is best remembered today for her appearances in many Austrian comedy films from the 1930s to the early 1960s. In those movies, she was frequently cast in the ...

as Karoline *

as Lilly Walter *

Hedwig Bleibtreu Hedwig Bleibtreu (; 23 December 1868 – 24 January 1958) was an Austrian film actress. She appeared in more than thirty films from 1919 to 1952. Bleibtreu is perhaps best-known to international audiences as Alida Valli's furious landlady in ''The ...

as Head Nurse in the House of Wise Men * as friend *

Karl Skraup Karl Skraup (31 July 1898 – 2 October 1958) was an Austrian stage and film actor. From 1947 until his death in 1958 he worked at the Volkstheater in Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = ...

as furniture store owner *

Alfred Neugebauer Alfred Neugebauer (24 December 1888 – 14 September 1957) was an Austrian film actor. Selected filmography * ''Money in the Streets'' (1922) * ''Money on the Street'' (1930) * ''Madame Bluebeard'' (1931) * '' Storm in a Water Glass'' (1931) * '' ...

as Eberhardt *Maria Waldner as Frau Eberhardt *

Rudolf Carl Rudolf Carl (19 June 189915 January 1987) was an Austrian actor who appeared in more than 150 German language films between 1934 and 1969. He also directed two films '' Der Leberfleck'' and '' Dort in der Wachau''. Selected filmography * '' Poli ...

as Doorman at the Lerchengasse

References

External links

* 1938 comedy films German comedy films Films of Nazi Germany Films based on Russian novels Films directed by E. W. Emo Ilf and Petrov Films scored by Nico Dostal German black-and-white films Terra Film films Films shot in Vienna Films set in Vienna 1930s German films 1930s German-language films {{1930s-Germany-film-stub