<P> Jack Valenti , who had become president of the Motion Picture Association of America in May 1966 , deemed the Motion Picture Production Code -- in place since 1930 and rigorously enforced since 1934 -- as out of date and bearing `` the odious smell of censorship '' . Filmmakers were pushing at the boundaries of the Code , and Valenti cited examples such as Who 's Afraid of Virginia Woolf ? , which contained the expressions `` screw '' and `` hump the hostess '' ; and Blowup , which was denied Code approval due to nudity , resulting in the MPAA member studio releasing it through a subsidiary . He revised the Code to include the `` SMA '' ( Suggested for Mature Audiences ) advisory as a stopgap measure . To accommodate `` the irresistible force of creators determined to make ' their films ' '' , and to avoid `` the possible intrusion of government into the movie arena '' , he developed a set of advisory ratings which could be applied after a film was completed . On November 1 , 1968 , the voluntary MPAA film rating system took effect , with three organizations serving as its monitoring and guiding groups : the MPAA , the National Association of Theater Owners ( NATO ) , and the International Film Importers & Distributors of America ( IFIDA ) . Only films that premiered in the U.S. after November 1 , 1968 had to carry the ratings . Walter Reade was the only one of 75 top U.S. exhibitors who refused to use the ratings . Warner - 7 Arts ' The Girl on a Motorcycle was the first film to receive the X rating and was distributed by their subsidiary , Claridge Pictures . Two other films were rated X by the time the MPAA published their first weekly bulletin listing ratings , Paramount 's Sin With a Stranger and Universal 's Birds in Peru . Both were to be released by subsidiaries . </P>
<P> Jack Valenti , who had become president of the Motion Picture Association of America in May 1966 , deemed the Motion Picture Production Code -- in place since 1930 and rigorously enforced since 1934 -- as out of date and bearing `` the odious smell of censorship '' . Filmmakers were pushing at the boundaries of the Code , and Valenti cited examples such as Who 's Afraid of Virginia Woolf ? , which contained the expressions `` screw '' and `` hump the hostess '' ; and Blowup , which was denied Code approval due to nudity , resulting in the MPAA member studio releasing it through a subsidiary . He revised the Code to include the `` SMA '' ( Suggested for Mature Audiences ) advisory as a stopgap measure . To accommodate `` the irresistible force of creators determined to make ' their films ' '' , and to avoid `` the possible intrusion of government into the movie arena '' , he developed a set of advisory ratings which could be applied after a film was completed . On November 1 , 1968 , the voluntary MPAA film rating system took effect , with three organizations serving as its monitoring and guiding groups : the MPAA , the National Association of Theater Owners ( NATO ) , and the International Film Importers & Distributors of America ( IFIDA ) . Only films that premiered in the U.S. after November 1 , 1968 had to carry the ratings . Walter Reade was the only one of 75 top U.S. exhibitors who refused to use the ratings . Warner - 7 Arts ' The Girl on a Motorcycle was the first film to receive the X rating and was distributed by their subsidiary , Claridge Pictures . Two other films were rated X by the time the MPAA published their first weekly bulletin listing ratings , Paramount 's Sin With a Stranger and Universal 's Birds in Peru . Both were to be released by subsidiaries . </P>
when did the motion picture rating system start
when did the motion picture rating system start
November 1 , 1968
November 1 , 1968