History Project

Film Timeline

1907: National Board of Review (NBR)—movie producers voluntarily submit films for censorship

1911: PA is first state to enact a censorship board

1912-1920s: Working class and immigrant movie audiences

1916: National Association of the Motion Picture Industry (NAMPI)—William Brady, board head

1920s: Attending movies is largest part of family recreation budgets

1921: Brady institutes The 13 Point Code—forbidden subject matter includes; white slavery, the depreciation of government authority or religion, exploitive use of sex, and the display of vulgar or improper gesture and attitudes

1922: Seven states with censorship boards—24 states with censorship bills introduced

1922: NAMPI dissolved

1922: Motion Pictures Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) replaces NAMPI—former Postmaster General William Hays, president, appears before the NEA

1924: Hays initiates a resolution requiring submission of all plays, novels and scripts before production

1926: Association of Motion Picture Producers (AMPP)—west coast affiliate of MPPDA—former Red Cross Colonel Jason Jay, head

Mid 1920s-1930s: Middle and business class movie audiences

1927: Jay obtains state censorship lists of “Do’s and Don’ts”

1929: Father Daniel Lord and Catholic layman Martin Quigley form the Quigley-Lord Code adopted by the MPPDA

1930: New Motion Picture Production Code (MPPC), commonly called the Hays Code—three general principles: no picture shall be produced which will lower the moral standards of those who see it; correct standards of life shall be presented; law, natural or human, shall not be ridiculed, nor sympathy created for its violation—code echoes values of public schools

1966: Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) replaces MPPDA—former Presidential Assistant Jack Valenti, president

1968: Voluntary rating system (G-general, M-mature, R-restricted under 16, X-restricted under 17)

1984: PG-13 category added in wake of Gremlins

1990: NC-17 replaces X category, basic explanations offered for R, PG-13, and PG ratings