Mjeteconer Just perfect...

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Humbersi The first must-see film of the year.

Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

happytrigger-64-390517 This short written by Tod Browning in his early days is a true cult comedy so dumb you really laugh at Douglas Fairbanks speedy fights. When I showed it to so many friends since the 80's, everybody enjoyed. What a pity the french Cinémathèque won't show it at the Tod Browning retrospective next month, it would have been my favorite show for this unforgettable "junk".

ackstasis Sherlock Holmes was written as a flawed individual, a mind so brilliant that, when deprived of stimulation, it turns to artificial stimulants – namely, opium. 'The Mystery of the Leaping Fish (1916),' a clear parody of Holmes, takes this vice to the extreme. Coke Ennyday (Douglas Fairbanks) sits in his laboratory, puffing on a pipe and regularly pumping himself with a cocaine syringe he keeps on a holster around his chest. His wall-mounted clock has no need for hours or minutes, but instead divides its time between the activities "Eats," "Sleep," "Dope," and "Drinks." On this occasion, the great detective is consulted by the Secret Service Chief (Tom Wilson), who is admitted to the lab only after observation through a primitive surveillance camera, described as a "scientific periscope." (I seem to recall that Louis Feuillade's serial 'Judex (1916)' also featured a similar gadget).'The Mystery of the Leaping Fish' is an odd little spoof. It was released two years after cocaine was effectively outlawed in the United States by the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914. Our hero's mission, though this becomes a little unclear in the convoluted middle-act, is to bust an opium-smuggling operation. He does this, but not before he's tasted enough of the stuff to satisfy his appetite. Drug addiction is lightly passed over as an amusing quirk. Whenever he feels down, Coke Ennyday injects himself with cocaine, and immediately perks up, proceeding to laugh and dance across the room (indeed, he essentially bounces through the entire final act). Drugs are even depicted as a useful weapon of sorts: when faced with one formidable foe, Ennyday simply injects his opponent, who promptly jumps to the ceiling. In scenes like this, reversed footage is used to amusing effect, as in G.W. Bitzer's 'The Impossible Convicts (1906).'

JoeytheBrit I never knew a 90-year-old film like this - humorously advocating the use of cocaine and opium in a spoof of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes - existed, and watching it is a little like stepping into some parallel universe; one where America's golden action man Douglas Fairbanks Jr. is an inanely grinning dope fiend, bouncing around on the balls of his feet with a big grin on his face, completely out of his head for the film's entire running time.He plays a detective who eats, sleeps, drinks and takes dope when he isn't solving crime. When we're introduced to him he's sitting at a desk with a huge tub of cocaine on it and repeatedly injecting into his arm. He's asked by the chief of police to investigate a suspicious character who is rolling in money and, in no time at all, nabs the bad guys and wins the winsome Bessie Love, who we first meet blowing up a fish. It's that kind of movie, and while it won't have you laughing out loud too often it will surely leave you questioning whether you're really seeing what you're seeing.

tedg 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.