Why so much hype?

What makes it different from others?

Brilliant and touching

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

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.

This is an absolutely peculiar comedy short. While I have seen and enjoyed a few Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. comedy shorts (such as THE NUT), this one left me feeling pretty perplexed! That's because the film is so incredibly dark and inappropriate, with its humor based on cocaine abuse! The main character is named 'Coke Ennyday' and he is a detective much like Sherlock Holmes--but with a HUGE capacity for drugs that even Sherlock could never match. He injects coke and throws clouds of coke in the air with reckless abandon. All this is supposed to be funny, but I actually found it both disturbing and an interesting historical curio, as back in the days this was made, coke was more commonly accepted and people joked about it! The short has a lot of energy and dares to be different, but isn't all that funny. But, if you are int he mood for something WEIRD, this is for you!!

I haven't seen this film since the '70s midnight movies craze. This short blew by, but was incredibly funny.Detective Coke Ennyday's clock (set on Sleep as we first see him with his head down on his desk) has four settings: Eat-Drink-Sleep & Dope.When the hands shift to Dope, Ennyday pulls out of Flour Canister, opens it to reveal contents of white powder, grabs a handful and blows it for comedic effect about his face and the room.As I recall the depiction of opium dens is somewhat ominous (probably quite scary for 1916 movie audiences). There is an air of anti-Chinese sentiment in the film (also playing upon 1916 fears?)And yes, Ennyday has a television transmitter that he uses to communicate. Odd to see from a 1916 film, but actually pretty accurate in its design to some of the earliest TV Tuners.Thank you, IMDb, for helping me to track down the title to this film. I need to seek it out for another viewing.

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.