Film censorship organization The National Board of Review is a private organization of film enthusiasts tracing its origins to March 1909. In that year
Columbia University professor
Charles Sprague Smith, founder and managing director of a progressive era educational bureau called the
People's Institute, working at the behest and in conjunction with the Exhibitors' Association of New York, launched the Board of Censorship of Motion Picture Programs to establish standards for a "white list" of sanctioned films. The fledgling volunteer organization soon made its focus national, rebranding as the National Board of Motion Picture Censorship (NBMPC), becoming the unofficial clearinghouse for new movies. One early participant in the New York City movie scene later remembered a single film as the impetus for forming the National Board. In the gold rush that was the first days of motion pictures "some very questionable subjects soon oozed from questionable sources" in the pursuit of audience thrills: "The first picture to arouse a protest was of foreign manufacture. It was one which showed the backing of a horse attached to a wagon over a precipice, horse and wagon alternating in the terrible fall down the steep incline until both landed at the bottom. The supposed driver was, of course, a dummy, but the horse was flesh and blood. American agents, distributors, and exhibitors joined in condemnaton of the subject and it was at this time that the question of supervision was taken up." As these first crude films were "only patronized by the poorer classes," Within a few years the volunteer-based NBMPC was operating with a $15,000 budget, overseen by a general committee of 33 people and a national board of 150. Work groups of 5 members of the board would meet in the office of a New York City film maker to review multiple titles, either approving the movie uncut, forcing the deletion of controversial material, or rejecting the film altogether. Funding of the clerical staff was made possible through donations of film manufacturers and their trade organization. No member of the board, general committee, or organizational officer received financial compensation. In March 1916 the NBMPC took the industry's advice dispensed with the word "censorship", changing the name of the organization to the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures. Producers submitted their films to the board before making release prints; they agreed to cut any footage that the board found objectionable, up to and including destroying the entire film.
Film critics' association Over time, the National Board of Review evolved from a film censorship organization to a film critics' association, formally recognizing excellence in the movies which they attempted to oversee. In 1930, the NBR was the first group to choose the 10 best English-language movies of the year and the best foreign films, and is still the first critical body to announce its annual awards. In 1936 executive secretary Wilton A. Barrett explained the Board's workings:The National Board is opposed to legal censorship regarding all forms of the motion picture...It believes that far more constructive ...is the method of selecting the better pictures, publishing descriptive, classified lists of them and building up audiences and support for them through the work of community groups... ==Publications==