The titular character is Zina Vesenina (Solntseva), who sells cigarettes outside the Mosselprom Building in Moscow. She catches the eye of three men: bumbling office worker Nikodim Mityushin (Ilyinsky), visiting American businessman Oliver MacBride (M. Tsybulsky), and local cameraman Latugin (Nikolai Tsereteli). Thinking that she oughta be in pictures, Latugin uses his connections to get Zina an acting gig. Meanwhile, MacBride wants to have her as a model and perhaps more. After learning that Zina is now in the biz, Mityushin tries to impress her by writing a screenplay. However, it's Maria Ivanovna (Anna Dmokhovskaya) who wants to be with Mityushin.
This film has the examples of:
- Celebrity Paradox: Latugin recognizes that Zina has star potential, but he doesn't recognize that she already looks exactly like Soviet film star Yuliya Solntseva.
- Dedication: In-universe. Mityushin dedicates his screenplay to Zina.
- Dogged Nice Guy: Mityushin is a nice but hapless guy who fruitlessly pursues Zina.
- High-Class Glass: Mityushin wears a monocle while trying to come off as an artistic type.
- Lots of Luggage: MacBride arrives in Moscow with so much luggage that it tips over the buggy that he tries to use for transport. He ends up having to use an automobile instead.
- Mistaken for Murderer: At one point, Mityushin believes that MacBride has murdered Zina. After it turns out that she's still alive, Zina points out that her death wouldn't have been in MacBride's interest in the first place.
- Of Course I Smoke: Even though he doesn't smoke, Mityushin buys cigarettes from Zina every day so that he'll have an excuse to interact with her. Guess what happens when he actually has to smoke one.
- Old-Fashioned Rowboat Date: Latugin takes Zina on one during the filming of his movie about "daily life in the new Moscow."
- Second-Face Smoke: Latugin blows smoke in MacBride's face during one scene.
- Set Behind the Scenes: One of the main characters is a cameraman and another gets a job as an actress, so we see a lot of what went on behind the scenes of Soviet cinema in the 1920s.
- Translation with an Agenda: At one point, MacBride makes the mistake of hiring Mityushin to translate for him when he speaks to Zina. When MacBride says something romantic to her, a drunken Mityushin chooses to translate it as an accusation of her being a Gold Digger.
- Travelogue Show: A Discussed Trope. Ordered to make a movie about "daily life in the new Moscow," Latugin instead films various scenes of Zina prancing about town. He tries to sell it as a travelogue, but his bosses aren't buying it.
- A True Story in My Universe: At the end, Latugin debuts his first movie as director. It's The Cigarette Girl from Mosselprom, the very movie we just watched. Incidentally, the film's actual director, Yuri Zhelyabuzhsky, was also a cameraman turned director. Hmm.
- You Just Ruined the Shot: Mityushin sees Zina jump off a bridge, and he rushes into the river to save her. It turns out it was a scene in the movie she's filming.
