Hollywood Censorship: Early Production Code Adopted
The Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association agreed to abide by a new Hollywood Production Code, which imposed voluntary self-censorship on Hollywood films. The industry began wrestling with different forms of self-censorship in the 1920s. See, for example, the list of “don’ts and be carefuls” adopted on October 15, 1927.
The version of the “Code” adopted on this day was fairly mild, and criticisms of excessive sexuality in Hollywood films continued. The voluntary censorship crusade culminated in the notorious Hollywood Production Code on June 13, 1934, which imposed severe restrictions on American films for three decades.
The last desperate attempt of Hollywood to control “indecency” and violence was the ratings system, which rated films as G, PG, R, and for a while, X, which went into effect on November 1, 1968. But even it soon had to be modified.
Read the 1930 Code: http://www.artsreformation.com/a001/hays-code.html
Learn more at a timeline on movie censorship: https://www.aclu.org/files/multimedia/censorshiptimeline.html
Learn more: Frank Walsh, Sin and Censorship: The Catholic Church and the Motion Picture Industry (1996)
Watch some clips from pre-1934 Code films: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81DwZgieHmg