Cecil B. DeMille romanticizes the Russian Revolution in this silent adventure epic based on the novel by Konrad Bercovici. High atop the Volga River lives lovely Princess Vera (Elinor Fair), engaged to be married to the handsome Prince Orloff (Victor Varconi). The well-bred aristocrats live in splendor, feasting and celebrating as a band of peasants toil endlessly on the banks of the river. William Boyd plays Feodor, a Volga boatman who dreams of revolution. When the revolution finally breaks out, Feodor becomes a leader of the Red Bolshevik army while Prince Orloff leaves Vera for his duties in the aristocratic White army. When the Red army raids Vera`s castle, Feodor is instantly enchanted with the decadent princess and unable to kill her. Despite the outrage of his fellow comrades, played with earthy glee by Julia Faye and Theodore Kosloff, Feodor abandons the castle and escapes with Vera. The star-crossed lovers seek shelter in a neighboring inn but are eventually discovered by members of both armies and must face the consequences of their love. Once again DeMille revels in the disparity between aristocratic wealth and the poverty and toil of downtrodden masses, a theme that he explored in his earlier film MALE AND FEMALE and would return to often in biblical epics such as THE SIGN OF THE CROSS and THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.