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Oxford Reference

A Dictionary of Film Studies

Annette Kuhn and Guy Westwell

Publisher: Oxford University Press Print Publication Date: 2012

Print ISBN-13: 9780199587261 Published online: 2012
Current Online Version: 2015 eISBN: 9780191744426

Production Code (Hays Code, Breen Code)

A self-regulatory censorship code created in 1930 (and applied strictly from 1 July 1934) that heavily determined the
finished form of Hollywood films until the late 1950s (see STUDIO SYSTEM). In the early part of the 20th century US cinema
was regulated ad hoc through state legislation and city laws. As a consequence of the rise of the nickelodeon and the
increasing popularity of cinema, as well as a predilection for controversial and salacious content, the film industry was
subjected to repeated calls for censorship, culminating in the closure of cinemas in Chicago in 1907 and in New York in
1908. In response to these actions, the newly formed Motion Picture Patents Company set up the National Board of
Censorship in 1909 (known as the National Board of Review from 1920), which until 1922 handled censorship and
regulation of film production for the major film producers. Continued city and state regulation of film exhibition and a
public outcry over perceived immorality both in Hollywood (after a series of scandals) and in its films led to the studios
agreeing to the creation of the Motion Pictures Producers and Distributors Association (MPPDA). The MPPDA, headed
by Will H. Hays, set out to project a positive image of the industry by pledging to establish a set of moral standards for
films. The Hays Office, as it quickly became known, published an advisory list of ‘Don'ts’ and ‘Be Carefuls’ in 1927; but
filmmakers, especially independents, still retained a great deal of freedom.

In the 1930s, under pressure from the Catholic Legion of Decency and other religious lobbyists and of the Motion Picture
Research Council (a group of influential social scientists who believed that cinema was corrupting children), and with the
threat of Federal involvement in the film industry looming, the MPPDA pursued a more stringent approach to regulation
(see PSYCHOLOGY AND FILM; SOCIOLOGY AND FILM). This resulted in the drawing up of a formal set of rules written by a Jesuit
priest, Father Daniel A. Lord, and known as the Production Code. The code was divided into two parts: a set of ‘general
principles’ that constituted a moral vision, and a list of ‘particular applications’ describing scenarios, themes, and topics
that were either prohibited or could not be shown in a favourable light. The Code was deeply Catholic in tone and
outlook, and enshrined the view that cinema should be a force for moral good. It was not effectively enforced until 1934
(the period from 1930 to 1934 is often referred to as the Pre-Code era), when the MPPDA set up the Production Code
Administration (PCA), headed by Joseph I. Breen. Under the stewardship of Breen, censors working for the PCA
removed images, words, and meanings that transgressed the edicts of the code (usually through censorship of submitted
scripts) and also ensured that a film's plot created the desired kind of moral universe, with evil acts punished and good
deeds rewarded (see GANGSTER FILM). An important Supreme Court decision and pressure from various civil liberties
groups brought a revision of the code in 1952: the new code still paid tribute to virtue and condemned sin, but suggested
restraint in treating sexual themes rather than forbidding them outright. In 1968 a rating system replaced the Code.
Although the code has now disappeared, its legacy is still felt: the television broadcast of Hollywood films, for example,
tends to discriminate against Pre-Code era movies, ensuring that viewers’ sense of the cinema of the 1930s is shaped by
films that were subject to strict censorship. In film studies, the Production Code is looked at by film historians in relation to
issues of censorship; and the ways in which filmmakers subverted the Code is an area of particular fascination.

Further Reading:
Doherty, Thomas Pre-Code Hollywood: Sex, Immorality and Insurrection in American Cinema, 1930–1934 (1999).
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Grieveson, Lee Policing Cinema: Movies and Censorship in Early-Twentieth Century America (2004).
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Jeff, Leonard J. and Simmons, Jerold L. Dame in the Kimono: Hollywood, Censorship and the Production Code (2001).
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