A narrative of the Russian Revolution.A narrative of the Russian Revolution.A narrative of the Russian Revolution.
Max Eastman
- Narrator
- (voice)
Grand Duchess Anastasia
- Self
- (archive footage)
Grand Duchess Maria
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (as Grand Duchess Marie)
Grand Duchess Olga
- Self
- (archive footage)
Grand Duchess Tatiana
- Self
- (archive footage)
Grand Duke Nicholas
- Self
- (archive footage)
Aleksandr Kerensky
- Self
- (as Alexander Kerensky)
Vladimir Lenin
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (as V.I. Lenin)
Aleksey Nikolaeyvitch Romanov
- Self
- (archive footage)
Lev Trotskiy
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (as Leon Trotsky)
Tsar Nicholas II
- Self
- (archive footage)
Tsarina Alexandra
- Self
- (archive footage)
Storyline
Did you know
- Alternate versionsDuring the Cold War, material portraying the Russian Revolution positively was hard to release in the US. To get around this, Herman Axelbank commissioned a new narration of the film from an anti-Communist standpoint. This version received a limited release in colleges and small theaters.
Featured review
What was and what might have been
As another reviewer has observed, the narration of this film has a distinctly propagandistic flavor: one that is bound to elicit laughter or even scorn from modern viewers. Assailed from without by a deeply socialist-phobic Europe and from within by intellectual snobbery and a rigid attachment to Marxist dogma (certain aspects of it, at any rate), the Bolsheviks blew it. Eventually they switched gears, but not soon enough to truly salvage their credibility as revolutionaries; their first priority had been to maintain power, and today they are remembered not for shaking the world in 1917 but for the appalling decisions they made afterward. For some reason the atrocities committed by Nicholas II are no longer touched upon, as if everyone had tacitly agreed that they were irrelevant to the discussion. "Tsar to Lenin" demonstrates otherwise, and therein lies its importance. This *was* a necessary and fully justified revolution, and in an age when the working class faces oppression on an almost infinitely greater scale, Lenin's example should be a source of hope for those of us who believe that things can--and must--change. Just be sure that you understand what took place before and after this crucial moment in history.
helpful•11
- InjunNose
- Jul 6, 2018
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- От царя к Ленину
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 8 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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