Editing National Legion of Decency (section)

====The Production Code====
[[Martin J. Quigley]] was publisher of ''Exhibitors Herald-World'' (a trade magazine for independent exhibitors). [[Daniel A. Lord]] was a Jesuit priest who had served as one of the technical consultants on [[Cecil B. DeMille]]'s 1927 ''[[The King of Kings (1927 film)|The King of Kings]]''.<ref name=endres>[https://www.americamagazine.org/issue/554/faith-focus/dan-lord-hollywood-priest Endres, David J., "Dan Lord, Hollywood Priest", ''America'', December 12, 2005]</ref> Quigley drafted Lord to write a code for motion pictures. With the blessing of [[George Mundelein|Cardinal George W. Mundelein]] of Chicago, Father Lord authored the code, which later became known as "The [[Production Code]]", "The Code", and "The Hays Code". It was presented to Will Hays in 1930 and privately circulated by the MPPDA.<ref>[https://mppda.flinders.edu.au/people/496 "Martin Quigley", MPPDA Digital Archives]</ref>

The studio heads were less than enthusiastic but after some revisions, agreed to make The Code the rule of the industry, albeit with many loopholes that allowed studio producers to override the Hays Office's application of it. One main reason in adopting the Code was to avoid direct government intervention.<ref>Prince (2003), p. 21.</ref> Tasked with enforcing the code was the Studio Relations Committee, which very soon was overwhelmed by the number of films to view. The committee had a small staff and not much influence. Without the power to compel the editing of content deemed problematic, it was left with attempting to persuade the studios to make changes. From 1930 to 1934, the Production Code was only slightly effective in fighting back calls for federal censorship. The SRC was considered generally ineffective.<ref>Doherty, Thomas Patrick. ''Pre-Code Hollywood: Sex, Immorality, and Insurrection in American Cinema 1930-1934''. New York: Columbia University Press 1999. {{ISBN|0-231-11094-4}}, page 8</ref> Lord considered the code a failure.