For His Son

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A father, anxious for his son's financial well being, develops a special soda pop called Dopokoke which is laced with cocaine. Dopokoke is advertised as relief "for that tired feeling." The ... Read allA father, anxious for his son's financial well being, develops a special soda pop called Dopokoke which is laced with cocaine. Dopokoke is advertised as relief "for that tired feeling." The drink is a success, but the son becomes addicted to it, much to his father's regret. Loose... Read allA father, anxious for his son's financial well being, develops a special soda pop called Dopokoke which is laced with cocaine. Dopokoke is advertised as relief "for that tired feeling." The drink is a success, but the son becomes addicted to it, much to his father's regret. Loosely based on the allegations that the Coca-Cola company and other soft drink manufacturers ... Read all

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6.1/10

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6/10

First to Attack The Beverage Industry

Biograph Studio's January 1912 release of "For His Son" wasn't the first anti-drug movie attacking the use of illicit narcotics. Several earlier films had addressed the opium, morphine and cocaine addiction used in its purest form. What the D. W. Griffith "For His Sons" addressed for the first time in cinema was the soft drink industry and its enhancement of placing cocaine into its product as a stimulant. Despite new United States food laws tamping down the amount of narcotic additives used in everyday commercial products, there still were amounts of drugs found in carbonated beverages and liquored drinks designed to give the products a boast.

Coca Cola and similar drinks were the target of Griffith's look at Dopocoke, a veiled symbol for all soft drinks using pick-me-up additives (and just not caffeine) that were permissible at the time. This cautionary tale shows a father who is running out of cash to support his college-bound son. He concocts a soft drink with a secret ingredient (cocaine) that soon becomes a best seller. Named Dopocoke, the beverage turns addictive, sending customers flocking to the pharmacies where it's sold instead of taverns because of the kick. Griffith takes this motif to the extreme, which shows the drink destroying pending marriages and causing premature deaths.

Griffith does use his cross-cutting expertise editing skills by illustrating a wide variety of action going on at the same time. Because of his unique and exciting methods of illustrating a story, Griffith movies by 1912 displayed such confidence that his Biograph films set him apart from his contemporaries.