Ivan the Terrible, Part I

Ivan IV (Nikolai Cherkasov) is crowned Czar of all Russia, and within days the nobles around his throne are plotting against him. Sergei Eisenstein follows the young ruler through betrayals by the boyars, led by his aunt Efrosinia (Serafima Birman), and by his old friend Prince Kurbsky (Mikhail Nazvanov). It is the first of three planned parts, and it treats unifying a country as work done alone.