Open ClassicCINEMA
Back to the collection

OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 1643

The Mystery of the Leaping Fish

191625 minUnited States
Comedy

Synopsis

Detective Coke Ennyday investigates a wealthy man's suspicious beach business. Inflatable fish, an opium-smuggling operation and a threatened young woman lead him through an extravagantly absurd case, framed as a script Douglas Fairbanks is trying to sell.

Watch the film ↓
Video edition
Wikimedia Commons
Original language
No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: not identified.
This copy runs
26:39
Subtitles
No subtitle track in this language

No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: not identified. No subtitle track in this language.

Languages and subtitles

No subtitle track in this language

Wikimedia Commons · Christy Cabanne and John Emerson · Public domain

Cast

DirectorsJohn EmersonChristy Cabanne

Inspirations

The short parodies Sherlock Holmes, pushing the detective's drug use into broad satire. Tod Browning supplied the story and Anita Loos the intertitles for John Emerson's production.

Sources and availability

General references identify the work and its copy. A reference beside an editorial section is linked to the claims checked in that section.

Wikipedia — film referenceWikidata — film identity and credits

Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.

The public-domain references concern the original films in the United States. Rights can differ for other countries, editions, restorations, music or translations. Sources are listed on each film page.

Availability checked on September 22, 2026.

Photograph credit

Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.

Audience rating

Loading ratings…

Keep exploring

Collection