The Mystery of the Leaping Fish

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.

I know allusions to drug addiction in cinema date as far back as the Silent era, but surely none were as blatant as this bizarre Sherlock Holmes parody! From a story by future horror exponent Tod Browning and starring Douglas Fairbanks (as removed from his typical characterization as can be imagined), it deals with the exploits of master detective Coke Ennyday(!) who's constantly lifting himself up – via the intake of drugs – from apparently chronic moroseness. He contrives nevertheless to accept the titular case, centering around a seaside ring of smugglers (whose leader is literally depicted as being covered in money); aiding the hero in thwarting their nefarious plans is Bessie Love, who shows to be perfectly capable of standing up to any man. While the detection in itself is nothing special, the sheer amorality on display lends the whole a decidedly grotesque quality – which, with the star's perpetual drowsy/euphoric countenance, undeniably heightens the film's comic quotient; the sheer fact that it's all eventually revealed as merely a story being pitched to the studio by Fairbanks, but which is unsurprisingly rejected, clearly makes this a case of 'having your cake and eating it'!

Usually when you delve into films this old and minor, its a slog through the ordinary. But every once in a while, you encounter something pretty radical.

This is a story of an ersatz Sherlock Holmes played by Douglas Fairbanks (senior), and is framed by him as himself trying to sell the script.

Within the story proper, we have two components. One is a spoof of Sherlock as a dope fiend, someone who literally cannot go more than 60 seconds without an injection. The second component is a reduced mystery involving drug smuggling and ending with the detective "Coke Ennyday" getting the girl. Both of these use the same comic devices involving the effects of cocaine, then legal.

Its a bit tiresome after a while, but the thing continues to surprise with secondary comic effects that are quite clever. In fact, I enjoyed this more than the last twenty contemporary comedies I have seen. But then I am a particularly receptive audience because I take the detective form so seriously.

The talent here is Tod Browning, from the era of "Intolerance." It shows.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

Famous detective Coke Ennyday (Douglas Fairbanks), "the scientific detective" has a clock with four events on it - Sleep, Eat, Drink, Drugs. When the clock hits "drugs" he pulls a syringe out of his utility belt, injects himself, and laughs. He does this at much more frequent intervals than his alarm instructs him. He gets a message from the constable of a beach side town saying that there is a mysterious man there who is rolling in money with no visible means of support. Ennyday is on the case. He drives about in a checkered car, and plays checkers with his chauffeur in this loud contraption in order to fit in (???). When it turns out that smuggling opium is involved, Ennyday is conflicted between chasing the smugglers or sampling their wares. He manages to do both.

This short half hour long film seems like a spoof on Sherlock Holmes who was a drug addict, though not to this extent! Actually, "Coke Ennyday" is a parody of the fictional detective Professor Craig Kennedy. Written by Arthur B. Reeve, the Craig Kennedy short stories were immensely popular at that time, The "leaping fish" are just floatation devices that swimmers can rent for a quarter an hour. What could possibly be infamous about them? Watch and find out.

Several famous people were involved in this - Tod Browning, who directed so many of Lon Chaney's films, as well as Anita Loos were the writers. This short probably got away with turning drug addiction into comedy because there was really no regulation of film content at the time, plus there is a twist at the end that pulls it back into reality in a comical way.

I haven't seen this film since the '70s midnight movies craze. This short blew by, but was incredibly funny.

Detective Coke Ennyday's clock (set on Sleep as we first see him with his head down on his desk) has four settings: Eat-Drink-Sleep & Dope.

When the hands shift to Dope, Ennyday pulls out of Flour Canister, opens it to reveal contents of white powder, grabs a handful and blows it for comedic effect about his face and the room.

As I recall the depiction of opium dens is somewhat ominous (probably quite scary for 1916 movie audiences). There is an air of anti-Chinese sentiment in the film (also playing upon 1916 fears?)

And yes, Ennyday has a television transmitter that he uses to communicate. Odd to see from a 1916 film, but actually pretty accurate in its design to some of the earliest TV Tuners.

Thank you, IMDb, for helping me to track down the title to this film. I need to seek it out for another viewing.