This program traces the life and legacy of Lenin, the philosophical and political founding father of the Soviet Union, the starring actor as well as the writer and director of much of the drama from the earliest days of the Russian revolutionary movement. When the Bolsheviks came to power in 1917, Lenin became the President of the Council of People’s Commissars and remained the active head of the Soviet government until his death in 1924. Using documentary footage dating back to 1896 (when Tsar Nicholas was crowned), the program shows prerevolutionary Russia, the Revolution, and the events after Lenin’s death: the treason trials of the 1930s, World War II, the death of Stalin and many of his successors, Gorbachev’s call for reforms, the successes and failures in Soviet ventures, and the shifts in domestic and foreign policy—all in the name of Lenin. (30 minutes, b&w/color)