Though the film is little known today, the five-movement suite Prokofiev arranged from his music for it (usually called "Lieutenant Kijé Suite") has become a standard classical concert piece and has been recorded often.
The melody of the song sung by Nina Shaternikova to harp accompaniment was used by Sting as the basis for his 1985 song "Russians."
Yuri Tynyanov adapted the screenplay from his short story "Lieutenant Kijé" (1927), his most famous work.
The "Lieutenant Kijé" music marked the beginning of Sergei Prokofiev's "Soviet Period" in which he embraced a warmer, more lyrical style, as heard in such works as "Peter and the Wolf" (1936), "Romeo and Juliet" (1936), and the Fifth Symphony (1945).
Due to the film's shoestring budget, mattes and multiple exposures were clearly used to simulate extras in the military scenes.