The Dream Woman (lost drama horror film; 1914)

A still of the film.

Status: Lost

The Dream Woman was a film directed by Alice Guy (Alice Blaché) and written by Alice Guy and Wilkie Collins (who wrote the novel it was based on). It starred Fraunie Fraunholz as Francis Raven and Claire Whitney as Alice Warlock (The Woman in black). Only 14 photos of the film appear to exist.

Summary

The hero (Francis Raven) is haunted by a dream of a young woman trying to stab him with a knife. Every birthday the dreams become more lifelike. When he leaves home, to find a place as a groom, he gets lost and has to take a night at an Inn. When he wakes from his dream, he finds the "dream woman" standing over him with a knife. His panic wakes the Innkeeper who comes upstairs to find no intruder and remove him for the disturbance. The apparition appears again, causing him to run until he collapses in his mother's arms. Soon after he grows fascinated with a young woman (Alice Warlock) and later marries her. However, Alice is often drunk, and after a fight, she vows to kill him with the knife in his dreams. Francis attempts to dispose of it, but is attacked and loses the knife. A few years elapse and Francis is employed as a second Groom. Although during the celebrations, Alice finds him, recognizes him, and kills him with the knife. Finally, the film ends in the spirit world.

The assumed plot seems to have been taken from the novel it was based on, as it is assumed that it would follow the same structure.

The Forbidden Room

This film was partially remade, along with some other lost films of the era, as part of The Forbidden Room (2015), by Guy Maddin. However, it was partially in color, as was the style in the film.

Gallery

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  One of the 14 stills that are known to exist.

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  Another one of the 14 stills.

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  Third still.

External Links

• IMDb page for the film. Retrieved 08 Apr '19
• A newspaper mention of the film. Retrieved 08 Apr '19