Hello camus~
The foundation for the Hayes Office began in 1915, when the Supreme
Court decided that movies were ?capable of evil, having power for
it.? (?Monkey On My Back,? by Michael Enright, Time,
http://www.time.com/time/sampler/printout/0,8816,101979,00.html )
The Court supported current censorship by cities and towns, who were
confiscating films they found objectionable. In 1909, due to
increasing public concern about film content, studios started
submitting their films to the Board of Censorship (later, the National
Board of Review). Private citizens manned the Board, screening films.
In 1915, the Supreme Court denied First Amendment protection to films.
(The First Amendment wouldn?t be applied to state law until 1931.)
Worried, studios worked together and came up with a sort of code for
movies. No naked bodies, no graphic violence, no ?unusual? sexuality,
etc. The code was self imposed by Hollywood.
In 1922, the Motion Pictures Producers and Distributors Association
was formed; William Hayes headed the organization. Hays believed
firmly that what stars did off screen was as important as what they
did onscreen. Actors and actresses leading immoral lives were likely
to have their films banned.
In 1930, The Production Code was set in place; this was a revised set
of ?rules? that Hollywood told itself to follow. All censorship up to
this point was entirely on the honor system. Hollywood was just
supposed to do the right thing.
However, by 1934, it seemed to many Americans that the movie industry
wasn?t doing a good job of policing itself. ?Scarface? had recently
been released, and it and other films were blamed for "copycat"
crimes. ?A 1933 article in The Literary Digest compared the effects of
film violence on children as comparable to ?shell shock such as
solider received in war.?? ( ?Censorship and the Hayes Office,? A New
Gangster, http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG02/gangsters/censorship.html)The
Fatty Arbuckle scandal certainly played a part in public outrage, as
well. (For more information on this topic, see ?The Scandal? at Silent
Movies: http://silent-movies.com/Arbucklemania/Scandal.html )
That same year, the Catholic Legion of Decency began waging war on
?indecent? films. They made lists of objectionable movies and help
organize picketing against theatres that showed movies on the lists.
Their primary objection was that some movies showed criminals as
heroes. Jewish and Protestant protesters soon joined forces with the
Legion.
The film industry had to do something. They agreed to allow their
films to be pre-viewed and approved. ?Acceptable? films would receive
a certificate from the Hayes Office. Joseph Breen, a Catholic activist
headed the Office at this time.
Famously, David O. Selznick had to beg the Hayes Office not to cut
Clark Gable?s exiting ?Gone With The Wind? line: ?Frankly, my dear, I
don?t give a damn.? Married couples could not be seen in bed?and they
should have twin beds. Kisses should last no longer than 10 seconds.
Crime should never pay. ?King Kong? had about 5 minutes cut from it;
cut scenes included Kong eating humans, pulling a woman out of her
bed, and stripping Ann of her clothes. (?Monkey On My Back,? by
Michael Enright, Time,
http://www.time.com/time/sampler/printout/0,8816,101979,00.html )
?For three decades, Hollywood largely abided by the Code, although the
studios did not always submit gracefully. And then, in 1966, Warner
Brothers released Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? without the
Production Office's seal of approval. Jack Valenti, head of the Motion
Pictures Production Association (MPAA) then as now, had been unable to
broker a compromise over the artfully nasty portrayal of a
disintegrating marriage. Just a few months later, MGM released Blow
Up, which contained nudity and drug use, without the seal. The Code
was, effectively, dead.? (?Self Censorship in the History of
Hollywood,? Chia Evers, Arts and the Law,
http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:F8yL3xfCroQJ:www.artsandthelaw.com/html/print.php%3Fsid%3D3+%22Hayes+office%22+Breen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
)
Shortly after, the ratings system was put into place.
The Hayes Office stood from 1934-1968.
You may also wish to read:
?Scandals, Undershirts, and the Depression,? Cyber College:
http://www.cybercollege.com/frtv/frtv004.htm
?The Motion Picture Production Code of 1930 (Hayes Code)? at Arts Reformation:
http://www.artsreformation.com/a001/hays-code.html
?Hollywood Censors and Johnny Weissmuller's Films,? Mergetel:
http://www.mergetel.com/~geostan/censors.html
Regards,
Kriswrite
KEYWORDS USED:
"Hayes office" censorship
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22Hayes+office%22+censorship
"Hayes office" 1934
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22Hayes+office%22+1934
"Hayes office" Breen
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22Hayes+office%22+Breen |
