Vsevolod Pudovkin is one of the recognized masters of Soviet cinema, along with Eisenstein and Vertov, and his epic The End of St. Petersburg is the most complex work of his brilliant career. Vance Kepley challenges Pudovkin’s reputation as the conservative of the Soviet cinema greats, revealing how his unique cinematic innovations – which combine traditional Hollywood continuity editing with Soviet montage techniques – are employed to express political themes. Kepley traces the elaborate network of motifs and the historical references embedded within the film and explores both the production circumstances that shaped the film and its reception. This is a fascinating look at this classic film and its place in both Russian and world cinema.