The Palace and the Fortress (Russian: Дворец и крепость, romanized: Dvorets i krepost) is a 1924 Soviet silent biopic directed by Aleksandr Ivanovsky.

[1] The film is about the tragic fate of revolutionary democrat Mikhail Beideman who was held prisoner at the Peter and Paul Fortress and spent over twenty years in the west Alexei-ravelin.

The film tells the story of Mikhail Beideman, who, at the age of 21, was imprisoned without trial or investigation in the Peter and Paul Fortress by the sole order of Alexander II.

The opening titles set the scene: “Within the walls of the Peter and Paul Fortress, the enemies of Russian autocracy languish, while on the opposite bank of the Neva stands the grandiose Winter Palace…” Beydeman, a young officer cadet, lives with his mother and sisters in a modest apartment.

Amid these personal dramas, the Narodnaya Volya revolutionaries detonate a bomb targeting the tsar’s carriage, prompting a crackdown on those suspected of opposing the monarchy.