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The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most United States motion pictures released by major studios from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the Hays Code, after Will H. Hays, who was the president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) from 1922 to 1945. Under Hays's leadership, the MPPDA, later known as the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and now simply the Motion Picture Association (MPA), adopted the Production Code in 1930 and began rigidly enforcing it in mid-1934. The Production Code spelled out what was acceptable and unacceptable content for motion pictures produced for a public audience in the United States.
The Moon Is Blue is a 1953 American romantic comedy film produced and directed by Otto Preminger and starring William Holden, David Niven, and Maggie McNamara. Written by F. Hugh Herbert and based on his 1951 play of the same title, the film is about a young woman who meets an architect on the observation deck of the Empire State Building and quickly turns his life upside down. Herbert's play had also been a huge success in Germany, and Preminger decided to simultaneously film in English and German, using the same sets but different casts. The German film version is Die Jungfrau auf dem Dach.
Goldwyn Pictures Corporation was an American motion picture production company that operated from 1916 to 1924 when it was merged with two other production companies to form the major studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was founded by Samuel Goldwyn.
The National Legion of Decency, also known as the Catholic Legion of Decency, was a Catholic group founded in 1934 by Archbishop of Cincinnati, John T. McNicholas, as an organization dedicated to identifying for Catholic audiences, objectionable content in motion pictures. Members were asked to pledge to patronize only those motion pictures which did not "offend decency and Christian morality". The concept soon gained support from other churches.
Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in pictures in 1929 and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known as the "Hays Code", in mid-1934. Although the Code was adopted in 1930, oversight was poor, and it did not become rigorously enforced until July 1, 1934, with the establishment of the Production Code Administration (PCA). Before that date, movie content was restricted more by local laws, negotiations between the Studio Relations Committee (SRC) and the major studios, and popular opinion, than by strict adherence to the Hays Code, which was often ignored by Hollywood filmmakers.
Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson, 343 U.S. 495 (1952),, was a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court that largely marked the decline of motion picture censorship in the United States. It determined that provisions of the New York Education Law that had allowed a censor to forbid the commercial showing of a motion picture film that the censor deemed "sacrilegious" were a "restraint on freedom of speech" and thereby a violation of the First Amendment.
Film censorship is carried out by various countries to differing degrees, sometimes as a result of powerful or relentless lobbying by organizations or individuals. Films that are banned in a particular country change over time.
The Penalty is an American psychological thriller crime film starring Lon Chaney and originally released in 1920 by Goldwyn Pictures. The movie was directed by Wallace Worsley, and written by Philip Lonergan and Charles Kenyon, based upon the pulp novel by Gouverneur Morris. The supporting cast includes Charles Clary, Doris Pawn, Jim Mason, and Claire Adams. The copyright for the film was owned by Gouverneur Morris, who wrote the novel on which the film was based.
Mutual Film Corporation v. Industrial Commission of Ohio, 236 U.S. 230 (1915), was a landmark decision of the US Supreme Court ruling by a 9-0 vote that the free speech protection of the Ohio Constitution, which was substantially similar to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, did not extend to motion pictures.
Joseph Ignatius Breen was an American film censor with the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America who applied the Hays Code to film production.
The Stronger Mind is a 1915 American silent drama film directed by Joe De Grasse and featuring Lon Chaney, Murdock MacQuarrie and Pauline Bush. Chaney did not routinely work for the United production unit at Universal, and was obviously sent over as a one-time loan-out for this production. It is now considered to be a lost film. A still exists showing MacQuarrie and Chaney as the two bank robbers.
Fires of Rebellion is a 1917 American silent drama film written and directed by Ida May Park, and starring Lon Chaney, William Stowell and Dorothy Phillips. The film is today considered lost. A still exists showing Lon Chaney in the role of the lecherous photographer Russell Hanlon. The film's main musical theme was Serenade by R. Czerwonky.
The Scarlet Car is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Joe De Grasse and featuring Lon Chaney, Edith Johnson and Franklyn Farnum. The film was written by William Parker, based upon the novel The Scarlet Car by Richard Harding Davis, which also served as the basis of a 1923 Universal film of the same name. A print of the 1917 film exists at the Library of Congress, and the movie is available on DVD. Clips from the film were used in the 1995 documentary Lon Chaney: Behind the Mask. A still exists showing Lon Chaney in his own make-up as the protagonist "Paul Revere Forbes".
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) and known as the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) from 1945 until September 2019, its original goal was to ensure the viability of the American film industry. In addition, the MPA established guidelines for film content which resulted in the creation of the Motion Picture Production Code in 1930. This code, also known as the Hays Code, was replaced by a voluntary film rating system in 1968, which is managed by the Classification and Rating Administration (CARA).
Freedman v. Maryland, 380 U.S. 51 (1965), was a United States Supreme Court case that ended government-operated rating boards with a decision that a rating board could only approve a film and had no power to ban a film. The ruling also concluded that a rating board must either approve a film within a reasonable time, or go to court to stop a film from being shown in theatres. Other court cases determined that television stations are federally licensed, so local rating boards have no jurisdiction over films shown on television. When the movie industry set up its own rating system—the Motion Picture Association of America—most state and local boards ceased operating.
Voices of the City is a 1921 American silent crime drama film starring Leatrice Joy and Lon Chaney that was directed by Wallace Worsley. It is considered to be a lost film.
Film censorship in the United States was a frequent feature of the industry since almost the beginning of the motion picture industry until the end of strong self-regulation in 1966. Court rulings in the 1950s and 1960s severely constrained government censorship, though statewide regulation lasted until at least the 1980s.
The Milwaukee Motion Picture Commission (MMPC) was the official film censor board of the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Board operated from 1914 to 1970 and kept dozens of films from playing in the city and struck hundreds of "objectionable" scenes from other films. It was unique among the large roster of city and state film censor boards in that it was never endowed with any legal powers, but enforced its rulings through the threat of theatre license revocation.
The Virginia State Board of Censors was a government agency formed on August 1, 1922 for the purpose of reviewing and licensing films for approval to be screened in the state of Virginia. During the agency's existence its members examined over 52,000 films, over 2,000 of which required edits before approval was given; and another 157 films were rejected entirely, of which only 38 won subsequent approval. The board disbanded in 1968 following a series of U.S. Supreme Court rulings which overturned censorship statutes across the country.
Ravished Armenia, also known as Auction of Souls, is a 1919 American silent film based on the autobiographical book Ravished Armenia by Arshaluys (Aurora) Mardiganian, who also played the lead role in the film. The film, which depicts the 1915 Armenian genocide by the Ottoman Empire from the point of view of Armenian survivor Mardiganian, who plays herself in the film, survives in an incomplete form.
References
- ↑ Kehr, Dave. "A Wanton Woman's Ways Revealed, 71 Years Later", New York Times 9 Jan. 2005.
- 1 2 Anderson, Mark (2007). "Tempting Fate: Clara Smith Hamon, or, the Secretary as Producer". In Lewis, Jon; Smoodin, Eric (eds.). Looking Past the Screen: Case Studies in American Film History and Method. Duke University Press. p. 148, note 62. ISBN 978-0-8223-9013-8.
- ↑ "Goldwyn Demands Court See Feature: Object to Censors Throwing Out The Night Rose". Variety. New York City: Variety, Inc. 1921-11-04. p. 1. Retrieved 2017-06-10.
- ↑ "Appeal from Censor's Decision Denied". Variety. New York City: Variety, Inc. 1921-11-25. p. 1. Retrieved 2017-06-10.
- ↑ Andress, Richard. "Film Censorship in New York State". New York State Archives . Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
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