The film contains many photographs of V. I. Lenin at different points in his life, and it has detailed information of Lenin's life and work from childhood to his last days. The first part of the film shows significant places in Lenin's childhood in Ulyanovsk, including his family home. The film also documents locations in St. Petersburg (night panorama), Kazan city, the Kremlin, Kokushkino village, burlaks on the Volga river, Samara city, and footage of ordinary farmers working the fields. Part two opens with the poor district of St. Petersburg where Lenin moved, photographs of leading workers of the St. Petersburg revolutionary movement, and the police cell where Lenin spent 14 months before transfer to the village of Shushenskoye, where he was briefly exiled from 1897-1900. The film discusses and displays original writings of Lenin, inlcuding his published books "The Development of Capitalism in Russia", "What Is to Be Done?", and "April Theses". There is also footage of the building that housed the fist Russian revolutionary newspaper Iskra(=Spark), with photos of the agents of the newspaper: Nikolai Bauman, Ivan Babushkin, Mikhail Kalinin, Elena Stasova, Dmitri Ulyanov Maxim Litvinov, Natalya Zemlyachko, Anna Ulyanova-Elizarova, Maria Ulyanova. Part three begins with the rebellion at Potemkin and shows places where Lenin lived abroad, including Geneva and Paris, followed by images of the building in Prague where the sixth All Russian Congress took place. There are also images of the building where the 1st issue of Pravda(=Truth), the leading Soviet newspaper from 1912-1991, was published. Images of Bloody Sunday are displayed, and images of events following the first World War in 1914 include Lenin's role in revolution of 1917, the arrest of Tsar Nicolas II and the destruction of royal symbols in Russia. The film mentions an assassination attempt on Lenin's life. Facts about the transition to Soviet government are introduced, addressing the very difficult conditions in a new country together with Civil War and the first World War. Film has footage of Lenin's speech from a balcony of the Mossoviet building about the necessity of military education for Soviet people. Then the film recounts of last months of Lenin's life and his death, concluding with praise for Lenin's politics, his genius and the present Soviet supremacy.
Pumpanskaya, S.