Remembering Hollywood's Hays Code, 40 Years On : NPR. Remembering Hollywood's Hays Code, 40 Years On For more than three decades, the code applied rigid moral scrutiny to films, banning everything from interracial dating to "lustful kissing." It died officially in 1968 — but in practice, it was always taking hits.

What ended the Hays Code?

It is also popularly known as the Hays Code, after Will H. Hays, who was the president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) from 1922 to 1945. ... In 1968, after several years of minimal enforcement, the Production Code was replaced by the MPAA film rating system.

When did the Hays Code begin and end?

The Hays Code was the informal name for The Motion Picture Production Code, adopted in 1930 but not seriously enforced until 1934. The Code was a set of rules governing American filmmaking that shaped—and in many ways stifled—American cinema for over three decades.