A bumbling detective comes to the rescue of a damsel in distress when a drug smuggler wants to force her to marry him.A bumbling detective comes to the rescue of a damsel in distress when a drug smuggler wants to force her to marry him.A bumbling detective comes to the rescue of a damsel in distress when a drug smuggler wants to force her to marry him.
Allan Sears
- Gent Rolling in Wealth
- (as A.D. Sears)
George Hall
- Japanese Accomplice
- (uncredited)
William Lowery
- Gang Leader
- (uncredited)
Joe Murphy
- Footman on Vehicle
- (uncredited)
Charles Stevens
- Japanese Accomplice
- (uncredited)
B.F. Zeidman
- Scenario Editor
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaTod Browning wrote the story for "The Mystery of the Leaping Fish" while recovering from serious injuries in a 1915 auto accident. The crash killed his passenger, actor Elmer Booth.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Birth of Hollywood: Episode #1.2 (2011)
Featured review
A surreal precode more than ten years before the precode era began
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.
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.
helpful•30
- AlsExGal
- Jul 16, 2023
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- The Detective
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime25 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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