 A directive of the Soviet Film Export Bureau to halt its screening reached East Germany in July.During the summer of 1953, the scene featuring Alexei Ivanov dining with Stalin and the other Soviet leaders in Moscow was edited out from all available copies; author Richard Taylor attributed this to the appearance Beria's character had there.In the post-1953 version, Ivanov is introduced to Stalin, and is then shown strolling with Natasha in the wheat field.