1. HAYS’ CODE HISTORY OF FILM CENSORSHIP AND REGULATION Chapter 4

2. The Motion Picture Production Code was the set of Production Code cover industry moral guidelines that was applied to most United States motion pictures released by major studios from 1930 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’ leadership,the MPPDA, later known as the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), adopted the Production Code in 1930 and began strictly enforcing it in 1934. The hays code is a method of governing motion pictures, which had been established in the 1930’s. What is the Hays Code?

3. What are the three principles of the Hays Code? No picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who see it. Hence the sympathy of the audience should never be thrown to the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil or sin. Correct standards of life, subject only to the requirements of drama and entertainment, shall be presented. Law, natural or human, shall not be ridiculed, nor shall sympathy be created for its violation.

4. Formal Enforcement : 1930-1934 Great Depression comes along, film makers want to make $$ Sex sells. Violence sells. 1934: Production Code Administration  Films required a certificate of approval for showings and distribution

5. What’s in the code… specific restrictions on language and behavior:  sex, violence, and crime = bad

6. Other Issues No films that make audiences sympathize with criminals Crime never pays (bad guys get bad ends) Murder and violent scenes must not be shown to make it want to be imitated Murder and violent scenes cannot be graphic, detail, or, in some cases, visible.