The domineering old woman Mavra Tarasovna, the mother of the Moscow merchant Amos Panfilovich Baraboshev, is looking for a general to marry her granddaughter Poliksena. However, the girl loves Platon Zybkin, a clerk who is honest but poor and owes the master two hundred rubles. Platon faces imprisonment for debt. With the help of Poliksena’s nurse, who decides to aid the lovers, a new watchman appears in the house—former non-commissioned officer Sila Yerofeyevich Groznov, who was once Mavra Tarasovna's lover.
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
 Nikolai RyzhovNot listed | Not listed |
 Yelena ShatrovaNot listed | Not listed |
 Liliya YudinaNot listed | Not listed |
 Sofya FadeyevaNot listed | Not listed |
 Vladimir KolosovNot listed | Not listed |
 Pyotr KonstantinovNot listed | Not listed |
 Varvara ObukhovaNot listed | Not listed |
 Valeri BabyatinskyNot listed | Not listed |
 Boris BabochkinNot listed | Not listed |