Despite being far less salacious than the 1951 stage play on which it was based, this film adaptation received a "Condemned" rating from the Legion of Decency, a Roman Catholic organization that passed moral judgments on films between 1933 and 1965. This rating was also given to Psycho (1960), Some Like It Hot (1959) and Breathless (1960).
To comply with the Motion Picture Production Code which was enforced from 1934 to 1968, the U.S. release of the film was heavily censored, and many elements were expurgated. Prior to the Code's introduction in 1934, many Hollywood films produced in the 1920s and early 1930s during the Jazz Age had featured nudity as well as references to abortion and extramarital sex.
Julie Harris won a 1952 Tony Award for her portrayal of the divinely decadent Sally Bowles in the original stage play "I Am a Camera," and she recreated her performance in this 1955 film version. Harris later disowned the film adaptation due to censors demanding significant plot alterations and dialogue rewrites. She deemed the final product to be unrecognizable.
The original Broadway production of "I am a Camera" by John Van Druten opened on November 28, 1951 at the Empire Theater and ran for 214 performances. The play was based on "Goodbye to Berlin" by Christopher Isherwood and was later developed by Fred Ebb and John Kander as the musical "Cabaret".
The British Board of Film Censors (BBFC) and the Lord Chamberlain's Office refused to approve any film adaptation of the 1951 stage play unless considerable changes were made. Consequently, most of the play's dialogue was rewritten to remove all objectionable material, and key plot developments were likewise removed. Despite these significant alterations, the film still received an 'X' certificate. Upon its release, critics decried the heavily-censored film as a travesty when compared to the original play.
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