Set in late-1920s Soviet Union, Ostap Bender and Ippolit "Kisa" Vorobyaninov are after a stash of diamonds hidden in one of the chairs in 12-chair set. They are forced to go on a cross-country chase when the chairs are auctioned off.

Mr. Johnny First goes to the Wild West to present the art of the Cinematograph, and the lives of everyone in the frontier town of Santa Carolina change as a result of this.

A diamond smuggling operation goes wrong when an ordinary Soviet citizen becomes unwittingly involved, and the criminals are forced to court him to retrieve their diamonds.