The Mystery of the Leaping Fish
Coke Ennyday, the scientific detective, divides his time into periods of "Sleep", "Eat", "Dope" and "Drinks". In fact, he overcomes every situation with drugs: consuming cocaine to increase his energy or injecting it in his opponents to incapacitate them. To help the police, he tracks down a contraband of opium (which he eagerly tastes) transported within "leaping fishes", saving a "fish-blower" girl from blackmail along the way.
From the archive
Before gaining fame as an action hero, Douglas Fairbanks appeared in this oddity of a film from 1916, supposedly co-written by the star himself, D.W. Griffith and Tod Browning, although only the latter received billing. The nimble heartthrob stars as Coke Ennyday, "the world's greatest scientific detective". The sleuth employs copious amounts of cocaine, an array of quirky gadgets and his not always quick wit to solve the titular mystery of this bizarre thinly veiled parody of the "Sherlock Holmes" series. (toshist)
Why this is free to watch
The Mystery of the Leaping Fish (1916) is hosted by the Internet Archive as a public-domain or openly licensed work, which means its copyright has expired, lapsed, or was released by the rights holder. The uploader declared an explicit licence, linked in the source panel. Nitrate streams the file directly from the Archive and hosts no video itself.
- Director
- Christy Cabanne
- Starring
- Douglas Fairbanks, Bessie Love, Allan Sears, Tom Wilson, Alma Rubens, George Hall, William Lowery, Joe Murphy
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