From the moment somebody figured out that the new medium of "moving pictures" could be used to show images that might not be suitable for all ages and all lifestyles, the movement toward movie censorship began. It continues today, with the recent passage by the House of Representatives of legislation mandating huge increases in fines for tv and radio broadcasts of what they define as "indecent" material. It's only a matter of time before they get around to looking at movies as well.

So I felt it might be a good time to take a look at the "Hays Code" to determine what it was and how it resulted from attempts by primarily religious interests to control what was shown on the screen. It was created in 1926 and formally adopted in 1934 by The Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, and informally known as the Hays Code after its author, former Postmaster General Will Hays. The Code went far beyond simply prohibiting nudity and swearing in films; it basically attempted to impose an entire fabric of principles on movie-makers.

There are those who argue that the Code forced filmmakers to be more creative in how they showed sex and violence on screen, resulting in some very interesting and amusing moments on film during the 30+ years it was in effect. While this point of view has a certain validity, it still doesn't justify what essentially amounts to censorship and a violation of the First Amendment rights of movie artists. The Code was replaced in 1966 by the MPAA ratings system, which attempts (not always successfully) to restrict who may see a film (and therefore where and when it can be shown), but does not prohibit any films from being made or shown, as long as the producers don't mind lower profits!

What was the Hays Code? I've reprinted it in its entirety so that it can be seen how invasive it really was (and why movie audiences regularly booed the Code logo when it appeared on screen before a film was shown).

The Hays Code

Here are some other Web pages where you can get further information about the Code and its impact on movies over the years, as well as other information about film censorship.

• Bright Lights Film Journal - "Warner Brothers in the Pre-Code Era"
• Bright Lights Film Journal - "The Bad Girls of MGM, 1932"
• Good Vibrations - "Hooray for Hollywood: Sex and the Hays Code"
• AboutGayMovies.info - "Gay Movie History: Censorship Starts"
• The Hollywood Thirties - Gary Jackson's history of the 1930s in Hollywood.
• HUAC and Censorship Changes - Article by Michael Mills.
• MediaKnowAll - Censorship
• Time: 80 Days That Changed the World - "July 1, 1934 - Movies' Moral Crackdown"
• Wikipedia - Encyclopedia entry: The Production Code