Will H. Hays was the first president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, serving from 1922 to 1945. Under Hays' leadership, the MPPDA adopted the Motion Picture Production Code in 1930 and began strictly enforcing it in 1934. The Production Code was the set of industry moral guidelines that spelled out what was acceptable and unacceptable content for films produced for a public audience in the United States. Because of his leadership role in the MPPDA, the Production Code was also popularly known as the "Hays Code." From 1934 to 1954, the code was closely identified with Joseph Breen, the administrator appointed by Hays to enforce the code. In 1968, after several years of gradually declining enforcement, the Production Code was replaced by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) film rating system.
Hays' speech in this short introduced the first public demonstration of the Vitaphone sound system and was part of the program for the premiere of the first Vitaphone feature, Don Juan (1926), on 6 August 1926 at Warners' Theatre in New York City. The program also included a short of Met Opera star Giovanni Martinelli singing Vesti la giubba (1926) from "I Pagliacci," and several other musical performance shorts.
Vitaphone Reel #192