Ivan the Terrible, Part I 1944

Overview

Topic: Film "Ivan the Terrible, Part I" (1944).
Goal: Factual, original 150-190 word overview.
Constraints:
Use ONLY verifiable facts from the provided SYNOPSIS and SOURCES.
No invented/guessed names, dates, counts, awards, etc.
Original, neutral, encyclopedic prose.
Plain text only (no markdown, no asterisks, no headings, no bullet points).
First sentence must not contain spoilers.
Word count: 150-190 words.
Title: Ivan the Terrible, Part I (1944).
Director: Sergei Eisenstein.
Genre: Drama, History, Soviet drama, Historical drama.
Cast: Nikolay Cherkasov, Serafima Birman, Pavel Kadochnikov.
Plot: Set during the early part of Ivan IV's reign. Ivan faces betrayal from the aristocracy and his closest friends as he seeks to unite the Russian people. It chronicles the reign of 16th-century Russian Tsar Ivan IV and details his formation of the oprichnina and conflict with the boyars (implied by text "conflict with the b").
Production details: It is the first part of a three-part biopic of Tsar Ivan IV of Russia. The third part 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.