I enjoyed THE MYSTERY OF THE LEAPING FISH, with who else than Douglas Fairbanks as Coke Ennyday, a burlesque comedy distinguished concomitantly by inner merits—i.e., as a funny burlesque, sprite and nonsensical—and by the cast (--the said Fairbanks--) and screenwriter—Tod Browning.Coke Ennyday, a detective described as a drug—addicted himself, uncovers a band of opium smugglers, the Leaping Fish being a place on the beach, where Coke goes to track down the smugglers; the _absurdism of this short burlesque requires a certain degree of sophistication. This kind of freedom was later suppressed or molded by the mainstream audiences' requirements.

Mystery of the Flying Fish, The (1916) ** (out of 4) Extremely bizarre spoof of Sherlock Holmes written by Tod Browning and an uncredited D.W. Griffith with Douglas Fairbanks in the lead. Detective Coke Ennyday (Fairbanks) spends all his time drinking booze, snorting cocaine and smoking pot but he gets a chance at a comeback when the flying fish shows up. Can you imagine a comedy where the hero spends all day snorting cocaine? I guess this short goes to show that Browning was a bit twisted even before getting into the director's chair but outside all the drugs this film is pretty much dead on arrival. There aren't any laughs and the drug jokes don't go over too well. Certainly worth watching once but that's about it.

I haven't seen this unique silent movie for many years but remember it well as I was completely taken by surprise one night when I was channel surfing. I don't remember what channel or even what year I first viewed the short classic. I thought maybe that I was dreaming because there is nobody that I have asked about the movie that has ever seen it or even heard of it. I have been working on a project near some ancient fish ponds on the Big Island of Hawaii recently and these ponds are loaded with these incredible leaping fish. They are a treat to watch and very entertaining. These mysterious leaping fish reminded me of the movie title and now I would love to have a copy of this short silent. It is truly a Douglas Fairbanks Classic. Anyone know where a copy might be available? TD

This is one of those weird little silent movies that you occasionally stumble upon...the kind you watch often with your jaw agape.Coke Ennyday (portrayed by Douglas Fairbanks of all people) has a drug habit worse than Cheech and Chong. He is constantly shooting up from a bandolier of syringes...and goes wild after finding a tin full of opium. It's so exaggerated that it is funny...if you look at it in the eyes of those relatively innocent times and not the more troubled era we currently live in.