Gwen Verdon won the 1954 Tony Award (New York City) for Supporting or Features Actress in a Musical for "Can-Can".
A duet of Frank Sinatra and Maurice Chevalier singing Cole Porter's "I Love Paris" was deleted from the release print, although the song is performed by a chorus at the beginning and end of the film. The Sinatra-Chevalier audio has been presented on Capitol's 1960 movie-soundtrack LP and 1990 CD, plus on an EMI CD import from Britain in 2000, but the film footage has yet to surface. Rendered solo by Mr. Sinatra, recorded in Los Angeles on April 13, 1960, and arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle (who served as the film's music arranger and conductor), a second "I Love Paris" originally was released later that year on a Capitol 45-rpm single. In 1998, the label added the solo "I Love Paris" as a bonus track on Mr. Sinatra's "Come Fly with Me" CD reissue.
During filming on 19th September 1959, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev visited the set on Sound Stage 8 with his wife Nina. He reportedly was shocked by the open sexuality on display, condemning the film as pornographic and depraved: "The face of mankind is prettier than its backside... The thing is immoral. We do not want that sort of thing for the Russians."
The Broadway production of "Can-Can" opened at the Shubert Theater in New York on May 7, 1953 and ran for 892 performances.