Maidgethma Wonderfully offbeat film!

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Frances Chung Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Isbel A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Michael_Elliott Mystery of the Flying Fish, The (1916) ** (out of 4) Extremely bizarre spoof of Sherlock Holmes written by Tod Browning and an uncredited D.W. Griffith with Douglas Fairbanks in the lead. Detective Coke Ennyday (Fairbanks) spends all his time drinking booze, snorting cocaine and smoking pot but he gets a chance at a comeback when the flying fish shows up. Can you imagine a comedy where the hero spends all day snorting cocaine? I guess this short goes to show that Browning was a bit twisted even before getting into the director's chair but outside all the drugs this film is pretty much dead on arrival. There aren't any laughs and the drug jokes don't go over too well. Certainly worth watching once but that's about it.

comz2u I've had a copy of this film for years - got it as a gift from someone about 14 years ago on a 'compliation' video. Always pulled this one out for sharing because people are amazed when they see it - it's outrageous. Even had a friend who went as "Coke Ennyday" for a Halloween party one year! I find the film ridiculously funny and some of the stunts are hilarious.The film is a detective parady, a farce and, to me, a social commentary, a insider's wink at friends on the madness of the drug use that was presumably going on all over - before all the regulations. Just fun, fun, fun. That in itself is what is so amazing about it. It will alter any conservative romanticism about the good ole 'daze'! No one has commented on the rich and hilarious background track of music (I've got one on mine) filled with early American music all about drugs. The songs and the music are fabulous.To me, this is a film made by friends for friends.I haven't pulled this one out for years but will go on the hunt for it and watch it again - I absolutely love Douglas Fairbanks. I'm looking forward to getting The Thief Of Bagdad which is one of my favorites.

Gary Dickerson This very strange comedy from 1916 features a not-quite-yet-a-star Douglas Fairbanks (Senior) as Coke Ennyday, a bumbling private detective who spends most of his time injecting, snorting, or otherwise ingesting opium & cocaine products. ("Coke Ennyday" - get it?)There's neat-o effects like backwards film to show Ennyday leaping out of water or onto rafters, as well as some minor slapstick, but the film's not all that funny, just weird. A recurring image is Ennyday looking a bit down, hand propping up his drooping face, the other reaching into his rope where a a belt of syringes is strapped around his chest. He'll take a syringe, inject himself, & then his face will beam with happiness.Was drug humor like this popular in the 1910s? Did people really have that sort of knowledge about what cocaine could do? I don't really know, but for the modern audience - I saw this last night & the crowd ate it up - its utter strangeness & the farce that drug use is returned to is sure to please.

psteier One of the funniest movies ever (in my unhumble opinion) and must be seen to be believed. Modern "scientific" detective Douglas Fairbanks gets on the case of an opium smuggling gang and rescues the kidnapped girl from the gang's Chinese hideout.Contains what may be the first television shown in a movie.