This is the second part of a projected three-part epic biopic of Russian Czar Ivan Grozny, undertaken by Soviet film-maker Sergei Eisenstein at the behest of Josef Stalin. Production of the epic was stopped before the third part could be filmed, due to producer dissatisfaction with Eisenstein's introducing forbidden experimental filming techniques into the material, more evident in this part than the first part. As it was, this second part was banned from showings until after the deaths of both Eisenstein and Stalin, and a change of attitude by the subsequent heads of the Soviet government. In this part, as Ivan the Terrible attempts to consolidate his power by establishing a personal army, his political rivals, the Russian boyars, plot to assassinate him.
Николай Черкасов
as Czar Ivan IV
Серафима Бирман
as Boyarina Efrosinia Staritskaya
Павел Кадочников
as Vladimir Andreyevich Staritsky
Михаил Жаров
as Czar's Guard Malyuta Skuratov
Амвросий Бучма
as Czar's Guard Aleksei Basmanov
Всеволод Пудовкин
as Nikolay the Fanatic
Михаил Кузнецов
as Fyodor Basmanov
Александр Мгебров
as Novgorod's Archbishop Pimen
Андрей Абрикосов
as Archbishop Philip (formerly Fyodor Kolychev)
Владимир Балашов
as Pyotr Volynets
Эрик Пырьев
as Ivan IV as a boy
Михаил Названов
as Prince Andrei Kurbsky
