[1][2] It is based on the 1928 novel The Twelve Chairs by Ilf and Petrov, one of numerous adaptations of the work.

The film's sets were designed by the art director Julius von Borsody.

A barber shop owner travels to Vienna to receive his inheritance from his late aunt.

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 100,000 ℛ︁ℳ︁ sewn into one of the chairs.