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Bessie Love (left) and Douglas Fairbanks (center, left).
Frame enlargement: Silent Era image collection.
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The Mystery of the
Leaping Fish
(1916) United States of America
B&W : Two reels
Directed by John Emerson
Cast: Douglas Fairbanks [Coke Ennyday], Bessie Love [Inane], Tom Wilson [Police Chief I.M. Keene], A.D. Sears (Allan Sears) [the wealthy man], Alma Reubens [the wealthy man’s confederate], William Lowery [the gang leader], Charles Stevens [a Japanese accomplice], George Hall [a Japanese accomplice], Joe Murphy [the footman on Ennyday’s automobile], Bennie F. Zeidman [himself, the scenario editor]
The Fine Arts Film Company production; distributed by Triangle Film Corporation [Fine Arts Komedy Production]. / From a screen story by Tod Browning. Cinematography by John W. Leezer. Camera assistant, Karl Brown. Intertitles written by Anita Loos. / © 1916 by Triangle Film Corporation. Released 11 June 1916. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format. / Working title: The Detective. Zeidman, a Fine Arts story editor, appears as himself. Leaping fish were patented by J.P. McCarty.
Comedy.
Reviews: [Motion Picture News, 15 July 1916, page ?] Laying aside the sort of parts for which he has become famous, Douglas Fairbanks goes in for pure farce here, his role being that of a “nut” detective, whose characteristics are well described by his name — Coke Ennyday. It is near slapstick, without a trace of the heart interest which Fairbanks handles with such distinction, and in fact is a burlesque of Fairbanks’ own style of acting, to a degree, and more emphatically, a burlesque of the know-it-all scientific detective and his methods.
Survival status: Print exists in the film holdings of Cohen Media Group (Raymond Rohauer collection) [35mm positive].
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Keywords: Automobiles - Beaches - Drugs: Drug addicts, Cocaine, Opium - Law: Enforcement: Police: Detectives - Water - Waves
Listing updated: 24 February 2025.
References: Film credits, film viewing : Lahue-Kops p. 159; Skal-Browning p. 266 : Website-IMDb.
Home video: DVD.
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