There are two versions of this film, one with Stalin and one without Stalin. All of his scenes were cut or altered for its reissue in 1958.
In 1937, Joseph Stalin expected plenty of films to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the October Revolution. Several projects were started but most were scrapped for political reasons; only Lénine en octobre (1937) was deemed acceptable to mark the occasion. Stalin was not pleased with this outcome. Boris Shumyatskiy, the nominal head of the Soviet film industry, was fired in December 1937 and executed for "sabotage" the following year.
To research his role Boris Shchukin interviewed people who knew Lenin, including his widow, and studied hours of newsreel footage of the dictator.
Director Mikhail Romm and actor Boris Shchukin were awarded the Order of Lenin for this film. This was during the worst period of Stalin's political purges. Upon hearing the news, Romm ran up the stairs to his apartment shouting, "They gave me the Order of Lenin! They won't shoot me now!"