Looking Forward
A Thanhouser film of 1910
Here's the synopsis from the December 24, 1910 issue of The Moving Picture World.
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"Jack Goodwin is a young student of chemistry who is far advanced for the times. He discovers a compound that has the power to put a man to sleep for any stated period of time, after which he will be as physically fit as ever. Jack tests this marvel for the period of a week, finds that it works, and decides to take a test of 100 years. He hires space in a safety deposit vault, has himself locked in a box and the box sent to the vault. There, according to instructions, it is to remain for 100 years, and at the end of the time to be sent to the mayor of the city.
"There is no hitch in Jack's experiment, and he wakes in 2010 as much surprised at the people as they are of him. He discovers that the rapid transit facilities have been greatly and strangely improved, and that instead of their being any fight for 'women's rights' it is the men who have their troubles. Jack finds a friend in the lady mayor, and she finally wins his hand, but not until she realizes that the man from the century before intends to be master in his own house, although the indications are that he will be a kind, loving and considerate master."
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Supposedly, the film is based up on a story by James Oliver Curwood. Curwood wrote predominantly about the great outdoors and actually had quite a number of early films based on his works. This particular story is elusive however. Many James Oliver Curwood filmographies don't list "Looking Forward" and even the Curwood Museum couldn't tell me where to locate the short story. The film is "presumed lost".
written: 9/25/2003