Red Army commander Chapayev ( Boris Babochin), fighting against Czech and Kolchak forces during the Civil War of 1919, has to resist the attempts of a commissar to tame his impulsive and heroic nature. Tremendously popular in its time, this affectionate and gently humorous folk tale is one of the more justly celebrated examples of socialist realism. In the lead role, theatre director Boris Babochkin gives one of the finest performance in Russian cinema.