maninasuit's profile

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Thursday, June 10th, 2021 1:30 PM

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Why is NBR rating getting priority over PCA/MPA ratings

National Board of Review (NBR) is an American organization which used to be an "unofficial clearinghouse for new movies" in the early 20th century; producers then submitted their films to the board before making release prints. Thousands of films carried the "Passed by the National Board of Review" text in their main titles from 1916 into the 1950s. NBR now announces the best films of each year (according to its members) & holds the NBR awards annually.

But it is NOT an official body of film certification in the US.

So why is the NBR's "Passed" rating is shown in IMDb (for movies released between 1916 to 1950) when there's a rating from either the Production Code of America (PCA) or Motion Pictures Association (MPA) is available???

Here are some of the many examples:

The Great Dictator (1940); PCA and MPA rating available, but showing "Passed": https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032553/

Lawrence of Arabia (1962); MPA rating available, but showing PCA rating "Approved": https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056172/

Sunset Boulevard (1950); PCA rating available, but showing "Passed": https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043014

I've tried many times to delete the NBR rating of such movies, but every time they got rejected, citing "badly formatted", "unable to verify" or "does not meet submission guidelines" as reasons.

It should be MPA>PCA>NBR

Employee

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3 years ago

Hi maninasuit -

 

Pre-1960 films will often be rated "Passed" or "Approved" with a re-rating from MPAA at a later date.

 

As per our policy, these original ratings are still relevant and will remain on the site to reflect historical symbol changes.  We will also allow the listing of the new rating, this may be why you are seeing both ratings on titles

 

In instances where both ratings apply but one or the other is missing, you are welcome to submit the additional certificate information through our online Update form when applicable.

 

I hope this helps!

57 Messages

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1.4K Points

@Michelle Thanks for your reply.

First of all, I'm not seeing "both ratings on titles". I'm specifically talking about the rating that's shown on the top left corner of the IMDb page of a movie.

Second, It's not about whether or not "both ratings" apply. It's about prioritizing them, when a movie has multiple ratings.

As I said on the post, MPA ratings should be given first priority, then PCA, then NBR.

Employee

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17.5K Messages

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313.3K Points

Hi maninasuit -

Thanks for clarifying the question.  I can confirm that the current display is dependent on the order of the first certificate listed for the title. 

Currently there is no option to submit a display order number for certificates, as such, I have updated this thread to "Idea" for visibility and so other community members can vote on the display suggestion you outlined.