Changes

The introduction of [[television]] created a new problem for motion-picture exhibitors, in that viewers could now stay at home to watch the sort of spectacle that, heretofore, they had to go out to a public venue to see. So producers experimented with a variety of techniques to distinguish themselves from television, by doing things that television could not do. For example, they changed the aspect ratio of their films from the traditional 4:3 to 16:9, 2:1, or even 2.25:1. But they also agitated for the right to include more salacious content in their films.

The introduction of [[television]] created a new problem for motion-picture exhibitors, in that viewers could now stay at home to watch the sort of spectacle that, heretofore, they had to go out to a public venue to see. So producers experimented with a variety of techniques to distinguish themselves from television, by doing things that television could not do. For example, they changed the aspect ratio of their films from the traditional 4:3 to 16:9, 2:1, or even 2.25:1. But they also agitated for the right to include more salacious content in their films.

In 1954, Joseph Breen retired as head of the PCA. Then an antitrust ruling severely weakened the PCA's power of enforcement.<ref name=PBS>[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/flashpoints/theater/hollywood.html Howard Hawks' ''Scarface'' and the Hollywood Production Code] from the ''Culture Shock'' series of retrospectives by the Public Broadcasting Service (on-line program note retrieved on April 6, 2007)</ref> Opinions differ as to the particular motion-picture production or productions that might have further weakened the code to make it unenforceable. Perhaps the strongest candidate is [[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s ''Psycho'' (1960)<ref name=Psycho>[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215/ Psycho (1960)] at the Internet Movie Database</ref>, which had multiple elements that the Code forbade: adultery, bank embezzlement, a flight from the law, voyeurism, and ultimately two murders, the first of which was the most gruesome murder staged to date on film.

In 1954, Joseph Breen retired as head of the PCA. Then an antitrust ruling severely weakened the PCA's power of enforcement.<ref name=PBS>[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/flashpoints/theater/hollywood.html Howard Hawks' ''Scarface'' and the Hollywood Production Code] from the ''Culture Shock'' series of retrospectives by the Public Broadcasting Service (on-line program note retrieved on April 6, 2007)</ref> Opinions differ as to the particular motion-picture production or productions that might have further weakened the code to make it unenforceable. Perhaps the strongest candidate is [[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s ''Psycho'' (1960)<ref name=Psycho>[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215/ ''Psycho'' (1960)] at the Internet Movie Database</ref>, which had multiple elements that the Code forbade: adultery, bank embezzlement, a flight from the law, voyeurism, and ultimately two murders, the first of which was the most gruesome murder staged to date on film.

In 1968, the now-renamed Motion Picture Producers of America abandoned the Code completely in favor of their present ratings system.

In 1968, the now-renamed Motion Picture Producers of America abandoned the Code completely in favor of their present ratings system.