In the fairy kingdom live stepmother, her evil daughters — Anna and Maryana, a limp husband-forester and his daughter from his first marriage — Cinderella. The stepmother exploits the poor girl as a housekeeper. With the help of her godmother-fairy, Cinderella gets to the royal ball, where a beautiful and very kind prince falls in love with her. At midnight, the magic ends, and poor Cinderella has to return to her former life. But on the crystal shoe that Cinderella lost while fleeing the palace to the battle of the palace chimes, the prince searches for the bride.
Propaganda film enhancing the role of I.V. Stalin in the defense of the city of Tsaritsyn (subsequently Stalingrad, at present Volgograd) by the red army during the Russian civil war.
This film is based on the book about Vasili Ivanovich Chapaev (1887 - 1919) who was in real life the Commander of the 25th Division of the Red Army. Chapaev is an uneducated peasant and a decorated hero in the World War I and later in the Russian Civil War, that followed the Russian revolution. This man of action is fighting on the side of the poor people. His troops consist of peasants, just like him. Unable to write, he can brilliantly demonstrate various battle tactics by moving potatoes on the table. He is street smart. He never lost a battle against the experienced Generals of the Tzar's Army.
This little known Russian movie, from the director of the following year's Oblomok imperii/ A Fragment of Empire is both surprising and accomplished. The mute cobbler is interested in the local girl but she is already pregnant by one of the gang of sailor suit toughs. The Soviet Youth League secretary's only assistance to her is a book about sex in Russian literature and things turn nasty.
