From his early silent works, the great Russian film director, Herr Yakov Protazanov, made literary adaptations from equally great Russian writers, as is the case with "Chiny I Lyudi" ( Ranks And People ) (1929) in which three short stories by Chekhov, "Anna On The Neck", "Death Of A Petty Official" and "Chameleon" were assembled for the silent screen.
A little girl denounce her evil step-father who plotted against the communist movement. The film, under the influence of Russian formalism, has some interesting experimental compositions.
The vain station master of a Russian train station out in the sticks has a quarrel with an old peasant woman and has her thrown in jail. The local party youth organisation finally manage to get her released, after having to cut through lots of red tape.
Em tom de documentário, o filme recria acontecimentos em Petrogrado, na Rússia, desde o fim da monarquia, em fevereiro de 1917, até o fim do governo provisório em novembro do mesmo ano.
O suicídio de um operário injustamente acusado de roubo é o estopim para o início de uma greve numa fábrica russa, em 1912. O lento processo de negociação expõe uma série de ações e contra-ações entre grevistas e polícia.
