In Mutual v. Ohio, decided on this day, the Supreme Court ruled that the still-new medium of motion pictures was not a form of expression protected by the First Amendment.
The decision upheld the activities of state and local censorship efforts until the 1950s. Movies finally gained First Amendment protection in the 1952 Supreme Court decision Burstyn v. Wilson, over the film The Miracle, decided on May 26, 1952.
Following the 1915 Mutual decision, five states and a number of cities maintained censorship boards. The states were New York, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio and Kansas. The major restriction on expression in the movies was not by government agencies but through self-censorship by the film industry itself. See for example, Hollywood’s voluntary “Don’ts and Be Careful” list issued on October 15, 1927.
When the Voluntary “Don’ts and Be Careful” list completely failed, Hollywood leaders developed new production code on March 31, 1930. But it too had no enforcement mechanism and also failed. Finally, under serious threats of boycotts of “indecent films” Hollywood leaders adopted a more comprehensive product code with strong enforcement powers.This was the notorious Motion Picture Production Code, adopted on June 13, 1934. When people talk about the Hollywood “Code,” this is the one they are referring to. By the late 1950s, public tastes were changing and people were more tolerant of the treatment of sexuality and other controversial subjects such as drug usage and interracial relationships. The Code was revised several times, but it finally was abolished in the late 1960s.
Interestingly, the period of the Hollywood Code coincided with the period of what most critics regard as the “Golden Age” of Hollywood films. Go figure.