Motion Picture (or Hollywood) Production Code of 1930

(noun)

A set of rules and guidelines that major Hollywood film studios agreed upon under the pressure of Christian leaders and organizations that sought to remove what was considered obscene and indecent from the movie industry. 

Related Terms

  • Public Works of Art Project
  • Federal Art Project
  • Section of Painting and Sculpture

Examples of Motion Picture (or Hollywood) Production Code of 1930 in the following topics:

  • Culture in the Thirties

    • 1930 marks the beginning of what is considered to be the 'golden age' of Hollywood, a period which lasted through the 1940s.
    • A lasting example of the studio influence was the Motion Picture (or Hollywood) Production Code of 1930 (known also as the Hays Code, after Will H.
    • Hays, who was the president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America).
    • The code was not strictly implemented until 1934, when the Production Code Administration was established.
    • Careers of some of the iconic Hollywood's performers also flourished in the 1930s, including Greta Garbo, Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Mae West, the Marx Brothers, Errol Flynn (best known for his role as Robin Hood), or child star Shirley Temple.
  • Popular Culture

    • 1930 marks the beginning of what is considered to be the 'golden age' of Hollywood, a period which lasted through the 1940s.
    • A lasting example of the studio influence was the Motion Picture (or Hollywood) Production Code of 1930 (known also as the Hays Code, after Will H.
    • Hays, who was the president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America).
    • The code was not strictly implemented until 1934, when the Production Code Administration was established.
    • Careers of some of the iconic Hollywood's performers also flourished in the 1930s, including Greta Garbo, Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Mae West, the Marx Brothers, Errol Flynn (best known for his role as Robin Hood), or child star Shirley Temple.
  • Cinema

    • This release arguably launched the Golden Age of Hollywood.
    • This jump-started Walt Disney Studios and led to the creation of other characters going into the 1930s.
    • Most Hollywood pictures adhered closely to a formula – Western, slapstick comedy, musical, animated cartoon, or biopic – and the same creative teams often worked on films made by the same studio.
    • Films were also easily recognizable as the product of a specific studio largely based on the actors who appeared.
    • By the 1930s, all of America's theaters were owned by the Big Five studios: MGM, Paramount Pictures, RKO, Warner Bros., and 2oth Century Fox.
  • The Culture of the Roaring Twenties

    • The Twenties witnessed the large scale use of automobiles, telephones, motion pictures, and electricity, accelerated consumer demand and aspirations, and brought about significant changes in lifestyle and culture.
    • The movie industry skyrocketed in the 1920s and Hollywood boomed, providing a new and accessible form of entertainment that proved to be the death of vaudeville.
    • Ever-growing crowds surged into new movie theaters, and filmmaking was revolutionized in the second half of the decade as sound synchronized motion pictures, or "talkies," replaced silent films between 1927 and 1929.
    • The first feature-length motion picture with a soundtrack, Don Juan, was released in 1926.
    • This was also the era of the Harlem Renaissance, the period of African-American literary and artistic cultural growth from about 1917 to 1930.
  • Automobiles, Airplanes, Mass Production, and Assembly-Line Progress

    • The 1920s can be viewed as a period of great industrial production in America.
    • This was largely due to the adoption by industry of the technique of mass production, the system under which identical products were churned out quickly and inexpensively using assembly lines.
    • Using the manufacturing assembly line system, in which individual parts or sets of pieces are added to a product at stations on a conveyor belt or other moveable line, entrepreneurs such as automobile tycoon Henry Ford were able to greatly increase productivity.
    • Hollywood also boomed, producing a new form of entertainment that shut down the old Vaudeville theatres – the silent film.
    • Even greater entertainment marvels emerged as the decade progressed, the most important being sound synchronized motion pictures, or "talkies," which quickly replaced silent films between 1927 and 1929.
  • Conclusion: Cultural Change in the Interwar Period

    • The 1920s can be viewed as a period of great industrial production in America.
    • Using the manufacturing assembly line system, in which individual parts or sets of pieces are added to a product at stations on a conveyor belt or other moveable line, entrepreneurs such as automobile tycoon Henry Ford were able to greatly increase productivity.
    • In the years that followed, the advent of "Talkies," pictures with synchronized sound, made musicals all the rage.
    • Hollywood film studios flooded the box office with extravagant and lavish musical films, many of which were filmed in early Technicolor, a process that created color motion pictures rather than the starker black-and-white films.
    • Some of the great names of cinema emerged in the 1920s and 1930s.
  • Flappers

    • They personified the musical and dance movements emerging from the dance clubs playing Jazz and new versions of old music, which became enormously popular in the 1920s and into the early 1930s.
    • Silk or rayon stockings were held up by garters.
    • Skirts rose to just below the knee by 1927, allowing flashes of leg to be seen when a girl danced or walked through a breeze.
    • The advent of "Talkies," motion pictures with synchronized sound, made musicals all the rage.
    • Hollywood film studios flooded the box office with extravagant and lavish musical films, many of which were filmed in early Technicolor, a process that created color motion pictures rather than the starker black-and-white films.
  • Vaudeville

    • Vaudeville is a term encompassing a wide range of entertainment forms popular from the 1830s to the early 1930s.
    • Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment popular in the United States and Canada from the 1830s until the early 1930s.
    • The capitol of the "big time" was New York City's Palace Theatre (or just "The Palace" in vaudevillian slang).
    • The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act, originally from New York City, that enjoyed success in Vaudeville, Broadway, and motion pictures from the early 1900s to around 1950.
    • For example, Alexander Pantages quickly realized the importance of motion pictures as a form of entertainment.
  • Elements of Reform

    • Due to the lack of secrecy, bribing or blackmailing voters became common.
    • Progressives advocated for censorship of motion pictures as it was believed that patrons (especially children) viewing movies in dark, unclean, potentially unsafe theaters, might be negatively influenced in witnessing actors portraying crimes, violence, and sexually suggestive situations.
    • In August 1917, the Lever Food and Fuel Control Act banned production of distilled spirits for the duration of the war.
    • It prohibited the manufacturing, sale or transport of intoxicating beverages within the United States, as well as import and export.
    • The Eighteenth Amendment was repealed in 1930, with the passage of the Twenty-First Amendment, thanks to a well organized repeal campaign led by Catholics (who stressed personal liberty) and businessmen (who stressed the lost tax revenue).
Subjects
  • Accounting
  • Algebra
  • Art History
  • Biology
  • Business
  • Calculus
  • Chemistry
  • Communications
  • Economics
  • Finance
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • Microbiology
  • Physics
  • Physiology
  • Political Science
  • Psychology
  • Sociology
  • Statistics
  • U.S. History
  • World History
  • Writing

Except where noted, content and user contributions on this site are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 with attribution required.