Robert Bernal Movies

One of several film versions of the 1928 Russian novel The Twelve Chairs (one of the better-known adaptations was the 1945 Fred Allen vehicle It's in the Bag), Mel Brooks' movie is set in the years following the Bolshevik revolution. Onetime aristocrat Vorobyaninov (Ron Moody), now reduced to a humdrum clerical job, discovers that his family's fortune still exists. To keep their riches from falling into the hands of the revolutionaries, Vorobyaninov's family hid the loot in one of twelve chairs. Taking a crafty beggar (Frank Langella) into his confidence, Vorobyaninov returns to the ruins of his ancestral mansion to reclaim his fortune. Also chasing after the twelve chairs is an Orthodox priest (Dom DeLuise), who tells himself that he only wants the money to replenish his church. Alas, the chairs have been scattered to the four winds, sparking a film-length race to retrieve the furniture and claim the gold. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Brendan Behan, the quixotic, eternally sloshed Irish poet/playwright, peppered his play The Quare Fellow with plenty of "gallows humor." The film version dispenses with most the play's morbid jests, leaving us with a grim, straightforward account of a Dublin death-row prison guard (Patrick McGoohan) and his growing empathy with two condemned prisoners. One could understand the removal of the play's comic elements had the film been made in timorous Hollywood. But since Quare Fellow was financed and produced in Ireland, it seems a inappropriately glum tribute to one of the country's boldest and most brilliant talents. Quare Fellow was directed by American "B" specialist Arthur Dreifuss, who also adapted Behan's play for the screen. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rock Hudson stars as Michael Martin, a naive and impetuous young would-be rebel in 1815 Ireland, who turns to robbery in his desire to support the cause against England. Now wanted by the British and forced into hiding, he crosses paths with the renowned rebel leader Captain Thunderbolt aka John Doherty (Jeff Morrow), who takes him under his wing. Impressed with Michael's bravery, Thunderbolt makes him his second-in-command, a job that becomes twice as difficult when Thunderbolt is wounded and must drop out of sight. Michael must replace him, not only as a rebel leader, but also in running the business that Doherty fronts as a cover, and in his household -- and that puts Michaal on a collision course with Doherty's equally impetuous, headstrong daughter Aga (Barbara Rush). Sparks fly between them, as the English draw ever closer in their pursuit of the rebels. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi