Production Code message, the MPAA logo circa 1950, and Howard Hays on the cover of Time.
Hollywood, Moral Censorship, and the Motion Picture Production Code, 1927-1968
Digital archive of MPAA Production Code Administration Files covering self-regulation and censorship in the motion picture industry. Consists of correspondence by letter and telegram, with internal MPAA documents.
Some films experienced more censorship than others from state boards, so the size of the dossiers on particular films will vary.
To find the file for a particular film, search by film title.
Inter-Office Memo to Mr. McKenzie from Mr. Hays. Date: Oct. 29, 1931
I talked to Commissioner Mulrooney. He says, "That picture is a gangster picture and nothing else. The gangster is glorified up to the very last minute. Then he has a physical collapse. He gets everything he wants. It is a bad picture. I could not be mixed up with it at all."
