For His Son (1912)

US 15m, Silent B&W
Director: D. W. Griffith; Cast: Blanche Sweet, Charles West, Charles Hill Mailes, Dorothy Bernard

An early exploitation film, and a heavy-handed morality tale about greed and the dangers of cocaine. For His Son is a dramatic short that sees a father desperate to help the financial fortune of his young son devise a new soft drink that is sure to be a hit: Dopokoke – “for that tired feeling”, a thinly disguised product that was undoubtedly inspired by the popularity of Coca-Cola, which for a time also included the “poison” that is depicted in this melodrama. Not surprisingly, all ends in tragedy for the drug addicted son who loses his finance, and perhaps his life! (Klaus Ming March 2015).