Actor Slavin, who performed the role of Ivan the Terrible, was too plump for the image of the emperor, known to have been gaunt and ascetic.
The role of Garaburda was the actor debut for Yakov Protazanov.
Original literary source: "Smert Ioanna groznogo" ("The Death of Ivan the Terrible" ), historical play in five acts written in by Aleksey Konstantinotich Tolstoy, first performed in at the Alexandrinsky Theatre of St; Petersburg.