The Mystery of the Leaping Fish (1916)

Coke Ennyday, the scientific detective, divides his own time in periods for "Sleep", "Eat", "Dope" and "Drink". In fact he's used to overcome every situation with drugs: consuming it to ... See full summary »

Directors:

Christy Cabanne, John Emerson

Writers:

Tod Browning, Anita Loos (titles)

Stars:

Douglas Fairbanks, Bessie Love, Allan Sears

Cast

Cast overview:
Douglas Fairbanks	...	Coke Ennyday / Douglas Fairbanks
Bessie Love	...	The Little Fish Blower
Allan Sears	...	Gent Rolling in Wealth (as A.D. Sears)
Tom Wilson	...	Police Chief I.M. Keene

Storyline

Coke Ennyday, the scientific detective, divides his own time in periods for "Sleep", "Eat", "Dope" and "Drink". In fact he's used to overcome every situation with drugs: consuming it to increase his energies or injecting it in his opponents to KO them. To help the police he discovers a contraband of opium (which he eagerly tastes) transported with "Leaping Fishes", and the blackmail of a mysterious man who wants to marry the "fish blower" girl. Will Coke be able to free the girl ?

---

Plot Keywords:

opium | detective | farce | television | master of disguise | 

---

Genres:

Comedy | Short

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 June 1916 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Detective

Company Credits

Production Co:

Triangle Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

25 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Birth of Hollywood: Episode #1.2 (2011)

User Reviews

The early days of drug humor

This very strange comedy from 1916 features a not-quite-yet-a-star Douglas Fairbanks (Senior) as Coke Ennyday, a bumbling private detective who spends most of his time injecting, snorting, or otherwise ingesting opium & cocaine products. ("Coke Ennyday" - get it?)

There's neat-o effects like backwards film to show Ennyday leaping out of water or onto rafters, as well as some minor slapstick, but the film's not all that funny, just weird. A recurring image is Ennyday looking a bit down, hand propping up his drooping face, the other reaching into his rope where a a belt of syringes is strapped around his chest. He'll take a syringe, inject himself, & then his face will beam with happiness.

Was drug humor like this popular in the 1910s? Did people really have that sort of knowledge about what cocaine could do? I don't really know, but for the modern audience - I saw this last night & the crowd ate it up - its utter strangeness & the farce that drug use is returned to is sure to please.