Cyd Charisse's striptease to the title number was met with a least a couple of raised eyebrows from the Hays film censors. For one 2-second instance, she is seen at length in a silk camisole exposing her legendary legs. This was considered too risqué by the Hays office, and a high-back chair was quickly integrated into the dance for her to run behind. When she next emerges from behind the chair she has quickly slipped on a swirling petticoat, but it is transparent and gives quick glimpses of her legs anyway, which by now were what most viewers wanted to see anyway.
Cyd Charisse's vocals were done by Carol Richards, who had also sung for her in Brigadoon and It's Always Fair Weather. To get a look at her, find the I Love Lucy episode where Carole sings an Indian love song duet with Ricky Ricardo.
Cole Porter's original lyrics were slightly bowdlerized for the movie. For example, Astaire sings a line in "Stereophonic Sound" about how audiences don't want to see a kiss "unless her lips are scarlet/and her mouth is five feet wide." In the original Broadway musical, the lyrics were "unless her lips are scarlet/and her bosom's five feet wide."
After this film, Fred Astaire effectively retired from musicals, preferring to concentrate on non-musical roles, though he would produce several musical specials for TV in the next few years. Astaire wouldn't make another musical until 1968.
Average Shot Length (ASL) = 25 seconds
Cyd Charisse mentions on the film's DVD that her imaginative striptease to the title number was met with a least a couple of raised eyebrows from the Hays film censors. For one 2-second instance, she is seen at length in a silk camisole exposing her mile-long legs, which are in nude stockings. This was considered too risque by the Hays office and a high-back chair was quickly integrated into the dance for her to run behind. When she emerges from behind the chair she has quickly slipped on a swirling sheer petticoat which gives quick glimpses of her legs.
In addition to reviving his on stage role for this movie George Tobias also appeared in the original film 'Ninotchka (1939)', although in an entirely different role.
The original Broadway production of "Silk Stockings" opened on February 24, 1955 at the Imperial Theater and ran for 478 performances. The original story is from the Greta Garbo film Ninotchka. George Tobias recreated his stage role in the movie.
This was the last film directed by Rouben Mamoulian. Although he was considered for several other film productions he never directed another film. Instead, he spent the rest of his career directing plays on Broadway.