5. Rear Window (1954) – The Topless Dancer
Hitchcock would often put unnecessary things in films that he knew would drive the PCA crazy. This would divert their attention away from the questionable content he really wanted in his films. For example, in Rear Window, Grace Kelly is seen in a nightgown and shares a slow, sensual kiss with Jimmy Stewart. In order to distract the PCA from objecting to these things that he wanted to keep in the film, Hitchcock submitted a cut of Rear Window featuring a topless “Miss Torso,” one of the neighbors that Jimmy Stewart’s character spies on. As Hitchcock planned, the PCA was so distraught by this that they didn’t raise objections to the kiss or Kelly’s nightgown. Hitchcock simply replaced the topless scene with a non-topless take of the scene.
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