Production Code

motion-picture standards

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July 13, 2026

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The Motion Picture Production Code, often called the Hays Code, was a set of self-imposed guidelines by Hollywood studios that regulated the moral content of films from 1934 to 1968. Established by the Motion Picture Association (originally the MPPDA) in response to public outcry and the threat of government censorship, the Code aimed to prevent movies from lowering moral standards.123

The Code forbade profanity, obscenity, and graphic depictions of violence, criminality, and certain social issues like promiscuity and homosexuality. It was replaced in 1968 by the current motion-picture rating system.1

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Dracula
…ending, in accordance with Hollywood’s Production Code, for a 1936 rerelease of the film; the original ending was subsequently lost. The commercial success of Dracula helped establish Universal Pictures as the premier studio for horror pictures, with Frankenstein following soon thereafter. In 1998 composer Philip Glass was commissioned to write…
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…ending, in accordance with Hollywood’s Production Code, for a 1936 rerelease of the film; the original ending was subsequently lost. The commercial success of Dracula helped establish Universal Pictures as the premier studio for horror pictures, with Frankenstein following soon thereafter. In 1998 composer Philip Glass was commissioned to write…
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The Public Enemy
…prime justification for the then-new Production Code, which kept major films sanitized for many years to come.
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…prime justification for the then-new Production Code, which kept major films sanitized for many years to come.
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