Censorship put an end to such provocative potboilers as "Baby Face" but ushered in comedies like "The Thin Man." Illustration by Cristiana Couceiro; Source: Everett (Photographs) For nearly four decades, the Motion Picture Production Code¹ governed the moral architecture of American cinema with an authority that was at once institutional and deeply ideological. Adopted formally in 1930 and rigorously enforced from 1934 onward, the Code forbade graphic violence, sexual frankne
