troops to the aid of the deposed government, and Cossacks and the Women's Death Battalion arrive at the Winter Palace and lounge on the Tsar's billiard table. The Provisional Government drafts an appeal to the citizens attempting to reassert its legitimacy, but that evening a congress is held including delegates from all parts of the country and the Soviets are voted into power. With the weapons and preparations by the Military Revolutionary Committee, Bolsheviks march immediately on the Winter Palace and demand its surrender. The Provisional Government, seemingly aloof, gives no reply. The Women's Death Battalion surrenders and kills their superiors. A group of Soviets infiltrate the vast palace through the cellars and locate the government forces inside. The Cossacks surrender and join the Soviets. At the congress, the Mensheviks appeal for a bloodless end to the conflict, depicted as "harping", falls on deaf ears. The signal is given by a shot from the Aurora and the assault begins in earnest. In an epic climactic sequence, Soviets storm the palace en masse and overwhelm the defending forces. Soldiers in the palace raid the palace for valuables, only to have their pockets turned out by the Soviets once they have surrendered. Finally, the Soviets beat down the door to the Provisional Government's chambers and arrest the government members. Vladimir Antonov-Ovseyenko drafts a formal statement declaring the Provisional Government deposed. Clocks around the world are shown marking the time of the revolution's success as the Soviets cheer. 26 October The new government sets about building a new state, passing decrees for peace and land. Cast Nikolai Popov — Aleksandr Kerensky Vasili Nikandrov — Vladimir Lenin Lyaschenko — Konovalov Chibisov — Matvey Skobelev Boris Livanov — Mikhail Tereshchenko Mikhalev — Nikolai Kishkin Nikolai Podvoisky — Bolshevik Smelsky — Dmitry Verderevsky Eduard Tisse — German Soldier Yuri Sazonov — Munist Production October was one of two films commissioned by the Soviet government to honour the tenth anniversary of the October Revolution (the other was Vsevolod Pudovkin's The End of St. Petersburg). Eisenstein was chosen to head the project due to the international success he had achieved with The Battleship Potemkin (1925). Nikolai Podvoisky, one of the troika who led the storming of the Winter Palace, was responsible for the commission. The scene of the storming was based more on The Storming of the Winter Palace (1920), a re-enactment involving Vladimir Lenin and thousands of