

Ivan the Terrible, Part I
Set during the early part of his reign, Ivan faces betrayal from the aristocracy and even his closest friends as he seeks to unite the Russian people. Sergei Eisenstein's final film, this is the first part of a three-part biopic of Tsar Ivan IV of Russia, which was never completed due to the producer's dissatisfaction with Eisenstein's attempts to use forbidden experimental filming techniques and excessive cost overruns. The second part was completed but not released for a decade after Eisenstein's death and a change of heart in the USSR government toward his work; the third part was only in its earliest stage of filming when shooting was stopped altogether.
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7.3/10
240 votes
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- Status
- Released
- Budget
- —
- Box office
- —
- Language
- Russian
- coronation
- exile
- treason
- tatars
- wedding
- church
- intrigue
- medieval
Top billed cast

















Behind the camera
Where to watch
All optionsAvailability for United States. Provided by JustWatch through the TMDB API.
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Videos
Release dates
United StatesUS
- TheatricalNR8 Mar 1947
United KingdomGB
- Theatrical(London)21 Oct 2007
ArgentinaAR
- Theatrical1328 Jan 1947
DenmarkDK
- Theatrical4 Jul 1946
FinlandFI
- TheatricalS30 Sept 1945
- TheatricalS(re-release)6 Mar 1958
FranceFR
- Theatrical5 Mar 1946
- Theatrical(re-release)18 Mar 2015
GreeceGR
- Theatrical (limited)(re-issue)19 Jan 2023
JapanJP
- Theatrical(Russian and Soviet Film Festival)11 Jul 2006
NetherlandsNL
- Physical12DVD29 Jun 2006
PortugalPT
- TheatricalM/167 Oct 1971
- TheatricalM/6(digitally restored version)1 May 2016
RussiaSU
- Theatrical11 Nov 1944
- Premiere30 Dec 1944
- Theatrical20 Jan 1945
SpainES
- Theatrical(Madrid)24 Oct 1970
- Theatrical(Barcelona)14 Sept 1971
Frequently asked questions
Ivan the Terrible, Part I was released on 11 November 1944.
Audience reviews
1- C8/10
CinemaSerf
6/6/2022
Nikolay Cherkasov is superb in this speculative biopic of the infamous Tsar of all the Russias. Made towards the end of the Second World War, Sergei Eisenstein manages to create a magnificent depiction of just how this often barbaric, but actually rather shrewd and intelligent 16th century monarch inherited and retained his throne despite plots and intrigues from his court, his people, his nobles - basically, just ab…
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