Singin in the Rain was ‘censored by Catholic Church’ over racy dance

Singin’ in the Rain hits Channel 5 screens today at 1:30pm, but viewers will not be getting the full original picture. The film was directed by Gene Kelly, who also starred in the picture as Don Lockwood, while also choreographing every one of the movie’s fantastic dance routines. But one particular sequence with Cyd Charisse was deemed “too obscene” to be released in cinemas.

During the Broadway Melody section of the movie, Gene’s character Don envisioned a few dance numbers with iconic performer Cyd. The first of these routines shows Cyd in a gorgeous green outfit dancing to a stunning piece of music.

However talented both of the artists were, they bit off more than they could chew. This routine was later trimmed down by just a few seconds after reviewers objected to some of the racy dance moves.

Singin’ in the Rain’s original cut showed Gene holding up Cyd before she wrapped her legs around his waist in a sexually suggestive manner. Of course, in the 1950s, this was an extremely risqué move to be shown in cinemas.

As a result, critics from the Production Code and the Catholic Church’s Legion of Decency were not happy with how the film played out.

It is not known if Gene fought back against the alterations, but the footage was eventually changed, cutting out the leg-wrapping move.

If you watch the video above – around the 3:53 mark – you can clearly see Cyd begin to swing her leg around Gene before it abruptly cuts. This change brings her back down to the ground, removing any raunchy moments from the dance.

That wasn’t the only moment of Cyd’s dances that were censored, however.

Years later Gene’s widow, Patricia Ward Kelly, pointed out another scene that was removed from Singin’ In The Rain in parts of the world.

Patricia revealed: “The scarf dance was cut out of the picture in several countries because they found it too risqué. They figured it out, it’s love-making. And in the most beautiful way. Isn’t that amazing?”

Gene’s scarf dance sequence, once again, showed him dancing alongside Cyd in a sensual ballet routine. The stunning performance involves the two entertainers becoming intertwined with one another between a silken scarf.

Despite these two scenes being axed in certain places, the film was a tremendous success.

Singin’ In The Rain earned a whopping $7.2 million at the box office on a $2.54 million budget.

The film has also since been inducted into the United States Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry.

The Singin’ In The Rain sequence has also been parodied countless times in many ways, including by Spider-Man star Tom Holland during lip sync battle.

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