A copying error by a military scribe turns the Russian words "the lieutenants, however" into what looks like "lieutenant Kizhe". The Tsar reads the error, and wants to meet this (non-existent) lieutenant. The courtiers, eager to avoid the wrath of the temperamental Tsar, create a Kizhe to serve as their royal scapegoat.
Mikhail Yanshin
as Tsar Pavel I
Boris Gorin-Goryainov
as Count von Pahlen
Nina Shaternikova
as Princess Gagarina
Sofiya Magarill
as Princess Gagarina's companion
Erast Garin
as Adjutant
Mikhail Rostovtsev
as Fortress commandant
Leonid Kmit
as Scribe
Andrei Kostrichkin
as Lieutenant Sinyukhaev
Konstantin Gibshman
as Chief physician
Vladimir Lepko
as Count Kutaysov (uncredited)