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As we get closer to the big day for celebrating the Back to the Future franchise — October 21st, 2015, the “future” date Doc, Marty and Jennifer travel to in Back to the Future Part II — I’ve got another bunch of movie recommendations, these tied to that first sequel in the series, which was released in 1989 (as always, all recommendations were released earlier than the focus film). I have to note that a few included in last week’s Movies to Watch for the first movie are also very relevant to the second installment. Potterville, the alternate version of Bedford Falls in It’s a Wonderful Life, was certainly an influence on the alternate 1985 version of Hill Valley in BTTF2. And any of the movies I included as relevant to the 1955 parts of BTTF are still relevant to the 1955 parts of the sequel. Meanwhile, there are a few movie allusions found in BTTF2 that will be better recommended with next week’s list of movies to watch after you see Back to the Future Part III. For now, here are the 10 I’ve chosen as essentials to check out once you’ve seen the middle part of the Back to the Future trilogy:
Scrooge, or, Marley’s Ghost (1901)
Robert Zemeckis, co-writer and director of the BTTF movies, has stated that Charles Dickens‘s “A Christmas Carol” is one of his favorite time-travel stories. He would eventually make his own adaptation of the story in 2009 as a motion-capture animated feature, but he kind of did a take on the tale with BTTF2, which involves three acts, one showing us the past, one the present (well, a present) and one the future, only not in that same order that Dickens did it. Doc (Christopher Lloyd) best represents the Ghost of Christmas Future if any of the spirits is translated for the sequel, giving Marty (Michael J. Fox) a peek at the years to miserable years to come if he doesn’t change some things about his personality.
I could recommend a number of great adaptations of “A Christmas Carol.” I’m very fond of Mickey’s Christmas Carol, which was possibly my introduction to the story. Also the modernized take in Scrooged. Of course, the real essential is the 1951 Scrooge starring Alastair Smith in the title role, though any version with lifelong Scrooge-portrayer Seymour Hicks is also worth seeing. I’ve gone with the 1901 adaptation here because it’s the first known and available to watch film of the story, and it being directed by magician-turned-filmmaker Walter R. Booth and produced by effects-film pioneer Robert W. Paul ties well with the next recommendation. Also, a bit of film history trivia: Scrooge, or, Marley’s Ghost is also the first known use of intertitles in cinema. Watch it in full — or at least as much of what survives — below.
The ‘?’ Motorist (1906)
Sometimes listed simply as The Motorist, this silent short is also helmed by Walter R. Booth and produced by Robert W. Paul, and as far as I can tell it’s the first film to feature a flying car. This one travels into space, all the way to Saturn, rather than through time, but it would fit well in the Hill Valley of 2015 as another antique auto that can do the same as all the fancy futuristic models. Flying cars would continue to be a staple of fantasy and sci-fi movies through the time of BTTF2‘s release and beyond. Blade Runner is the most commonly acknowledged, but other important earlier examples include Metropolis and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the latter featuring a vehicle more closely resembling the one here. Watch The ‘?’ Motorist in full below.
I Married a Witch (1942)
One of the notable tricks up BTTF2‘s sleeve was its employment of Michael J. Fox and Thomas F. Wilson in multiple roles, namely their original characters’ offspring (they also play their ancestors in BTTF3). When Fox can be seen as Marty and his son and daughter, all three on screen at once, one classic movie that comes to mind is Kind Hearts and Coronets, which stars Alec Guinness as eight members of the same family. But the illogical way the BTTF trilogy has actors play multiple generations of family members more distanced by time also reminds me of this movie directed by Rene Clair and starring Fredric March as four generations of men suffering the curse of Veronica Lake‘s witch. Watch it in full via Hulu below.
Ma and Pa Kettle (1949)
In last week’s BTTF list, I included An Act of Murder, the first movie to feature Universal’s Courthouse Square backlot later used for the Hill Valley set. While there have been many movies shot there in between, the second one is somewhat relevant to this week’s focus. Ma and Pa Kettle, a spinoff sequel to The Egg and I and the start of a lengthy comedy franchise, deals with the title characters (Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride) winning a “house of the future,” and obviously there’s plenty of gags mined from the home’s futuristic conveniences.
The House of Tomorrow (1949)
I’ve already recently recommended, with the release of Tomorrowland, the sponsored films Design for Dreaming and A Touch of Magic, the latter brought up again with the BTTF list due to a certain music score influence, and I can’t find any availability for the similar short Living Unlimited, which supposedly addresses the expectation for flying cars, while also similarly showcasing “the kitchen of tomorrow.” So, here’s Tex Avery‘s animated parody of those kinds of films, which are recalled when movies like BTTF2 show us a bright future with the greatest of conveniences, especially regarding food preparation. The House of Tomorrow which can be watched in full below, is part of a series of joke-filled animated mockumentaries, others being The Car of Tomorrow (sadly nothing about them flying), The Farm of Tomorrow and The T.V. of Tomorrow.
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