Cinevent Notes: MYSTERY OF THE LEAPING FISH (1916)

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Richard M Roberts
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Cinevent Notes: MYSTERY OF THE LEAPING FISH (1916)

Postby Richard M Roberts » Thu May 05, 2016 6:46 pm

Yep, it really does take the cake as one of the weirdest short comedies in the whole history of the silent era. Douglas Fairbanks, in his only two-reeler, plays Coke Ennyday, scriptwriter Tod Browning’s slant (slant?!-------------total diagonal!) on the Electric Super-Detective of the pulps and serials of the teens, personified at the time by Arthur B. Reeves Craig Kennedy and of course, Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and his --------------------proclivities. One isn’t sure what Fairbanks was actually on when he was talked into making this short, but he was certainly having a “high” old time playing Detective Coke as he uses all his various disguises and wild contraptions to solve the “mystery” of the leaping fish.

Then there’s Bessie Love as the Little Fish Blower-----------no, we won’t even go there, but that’s how she’s billed. The biggest irony of course is Alma Rubens, who died from her own substance abuse problems in 1929, she plays the Villain’s moll.

The biggest mystery in MYSTERY OF THE LEAPING FISH is why would Douglas Fairbanks, already a big feature star at Triangle after only a year in the movies, would appear in this wild and wooly two-reeler. Even odder is that this short is listed as a Keystone release in Triangle’s original advertising and booking info (it was produced by D. W Griffith’s Fine Arts Division). This all has to do with the battles Mack Sennett and Triangle were having in the summer of 1916, barely even the first year of the formation of the conglomerate that pulled the triumvirate of top filmmakers (Griffith, Sennett, Ince) into the company, and the cracks already forming that would soon destroy the partnership.

Sennett was angry that his popular Keystones were being used to force exhibitors to block-book the whole Triangle program in order to get them, and that summer he began withholding delivery of his films from Triangle release. To make up the shortage, Triangle had Fine Arts produce some bogus “Keystone” product, featuring Fine Arts stars like Douglas Fairbanks and Fay Tincher. LEAPING FISH was Fairbanks only contributions to this ruse, and apparently he only made it because he and writer Browning had cooked up the story after a day trip to the beach to enjoy the latest fad---riding the waves on large inflated rafts shaped like fish.

In any event, this faux Keystone apparently made quite an impression on contemporary audiences and onwards even to the point of where in 1922, the American Releasing Company could advertise it’s comedy FOOLS OF FORTUNE with these words:

“Years ago, you remember how they howled over Doug Fairbanks’ crazy conceit “The Mystery of the Leaping Fish”? Very well, those are the kind of laughs your audience will get out of “Fools of Fortune”.

Yet not everyone was apparently amused, in the September 15, 1917 issue of MOTOGRAPHY, in the exhibitors’ comments on the film, Mr. H.N. Turner, manager of the Family Theater, Pine City, Minnesota opined: “The poorest comedy I’ve ever shown. Did not set a smile.”.

Perhaps not, in a “Family Theater” no less, yet MYSTERY OF THE LEAPING FISH has proven to have “legs” over the ensuing years, in the 1960’s and 70’s, the short found itself revived as a popular attraction at University and Art House Midnight Shows. Another one for the head-trippers, a good short to run with REEFER MADNESS or THE COCAINE FIENDS, at least it guaranteed a few more prints were struck, circulated, and ended up in Collector’s hands. Now it’s your turn to get in the habit of happiness, naturally or artificially induced, as we remind everyone that mind-blowing medicine was not the invention of our former-hippie baby boomers.


RICHARD M ROBERTS

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Re: Cinevent Notes: MYSTERY OF THE LEAPING FISH (1916)

Postby Gary Johnson » Fri May 06, 2016 2:44 pm

When I first came across this short in the 70's I assumed I was watching an abridgement of one of Fairbanks feature. It took me some time to figure out I had seen all of the film.


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