The Window Dresser’s Dream

Released in July 1917, The Window Dresser’s Dream is a one-reel Black Diamond Comedy filmed and produced by the United States Motion Picture Corporation (USMPC) in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The film was distributed by Paramount Pictures.

An advertisement for the film that appeared in the July 14, 1917, issue of The Moving Picture World says “What could be more natural than for a window dresser to dream that one of his models had come to life–and oh, boy–but seeing is believing. It’s marvelous what a little trick photography will do.”

As of the writing of this article (October 30, 2017), no prints of this film are known to survive. If you have any information about the film, please contact us.

A synopsis of the film is available in the June 2, 1917, issue of the Moving Picture World on page 1499. It was transcribed below by Noreen O’Connor in 2017:

THE WINDOW DRESSER’S DREAM (Black Diamond—May 14).—Being ten minutes late for dinner, the poor Window Dresser, refused admittance to his home by his aggressive spouse, is compelled to spend the night on the front porch. After a sleepless night he wearily wends his way to work and we next see him attempting to drape an elaborate gown about a waxen image of a beautiful maiden in a store window, upon which he has already placed the most dainty lingerie. He finds the effort too much for him, and has an inspiration. He casts the gown aside and in its stead covers the lady of wax with a more easily adjusted opera cloak. He falls asleep and has a terrible vision of his nagging wife and pleasant dreams of the waxen image, which comes to life. After dreaming of many adventures in which the wax image and his nagging wife play the stellar parts,  he awakens to find himself wrestling with the figure which he has upset in his delirium.