Martin Quigley & Carter DeHaven - Dec 1920 EH

Martin Joseph Quigley Sr. (May 6, 1890 – May 4, 1964)''Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014''.

Social Security Administration The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that administers Social Security, a social insurance program consisting of retirement, disability and survivor benefits. To qualify f ...

. was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

publisher, editor and film magazine journalist. He founded '' Exhibitors Herald'', which became an important national trade paper for the film industry. He was also the founder of Quigley Publishing.

Publishing and journalism career

Born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S ...

, Quigley began his career as a police reporter in Chicago in 1910. He purchased the film trade journal ''Exhibitors Herald'' in 1915. Two years later, he acquired and merged ''

Motography ''Motography'' was an American film journal that was first published in 1909 and ran until mid-1918. The magazine was published in 1909 and was originally named ''The Nickelodeon'',"Motography." The Bioscope. 9 Feb. 2009. Web. 4 Nov. 2015 http:/ ...

''. In 1927, he acquired and merged ''

The Moving Picture World The ''Moving Picture World'' was an influential early trade journal for the American film industry, from 1907 to 1927. An industry powerhouse at its height, ''Moving Picture World'' frequently reiterated its independence from the film studios. I ...

'' and began publishing as ''Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World'', later shortened to ''Exhibitors Herald World''. After acquiring ''

Motion Picture News The ''Motion Picture News'' was an American film industry trade paper published from 1913 to 1930. History The publication was created through the 1913 merger of the ''Moving Picture News'' founded in 1908 and ''The Exhibitors' Times'', founded ...

'' in 1930, he merged these publications into the ''

Motion Picture Herald The ''Motion Picture Herald'' was an American film industry trade paper published from 1931 to December 1972.Anthony Slide, ed. (1985)''International Film, Radio, and Television Journals'' Greenwood Press. p. 242. It was replaced by the ''QP Heral ...

''. Quigley followed this shortly after with the merger of his remaining three publications, ''Exhibitors Trade Review'', ''Exhibitors Daily Review'', and ''Motion Pictures Today'' to form ''

Motion Picture Daily ''Motion Picture Daily'' was an American daily magazine focusing on the film industry. It was published by Quigley Publishing Company, which also published the '' Motion Picture Herald''. The magazine was formed by the merging of three existing Q ...

''. In 1929, '' The Motion Picture Almanac'' was first published and was published annually.

Role in Motion Picture Production Code

Quigley was an active proponent and co-author of the

Motion Picture Production Code The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...

, which governed the content of Hollywood movies from the 1930s to the 1960s. A devout Catholic, he began lobbying in the 1920s for a more extensive code that not only listed material that was inappropriate for movies, but also contained a moral system that the movies could help to promote – specifically a system based on Catholic theology. He recruited Father Daniel Lord, a Jesuit priest and instructor at the Catholic

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, to write such a code and on March 31, 1930 the board of directors of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association adopted it formally. This original version especially was once popularly known as the Hays Code, but it and its later revisions are now commonly called the Production Code.

Personal life and death

Quigley held staunch conservative views particularly in the film industry. His son, Martin Quigley Jr., who shared his views, became active in the editing and publication of the various periodicals established by his father, but had far less impact due to the changing times and the decline of the Code. Quigley Sr. died at

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in 1964, two days before his 74th birthday.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quigley, Martin 1890 births 1964 deaths American publishers (people) 20th-century American journalists American male journalists American Roman Catholics Censors Businesspeople from Cleveland 20th-century American businesspeople