BACK TO THE FUTURE bttf-1 Read online

  Marty: Excuse me?

  Stella: Yeah, I guessed you're a sailor, aren't you, that's why you wear that life preserver.

  Marty: Uh, coast guard.

  Sam enters.

  Stella: Sam, here's the young man you hit with your car out there. He's all right, thank God.

  Sam: What were you doing in the middle of the street, a kid your age?

  Stella: (To Marty) Don't pay any attention to him, he's in one of his moods. (To Sam) Sam, quit fiddling with that thing, come in here to dinner.

  Everyone is at the table.

  Stella: (To Marty) Now let's see, you already know Lorraine, this is Milton, this is Sally, that's Toby, and over there in the playpen is little baby Joey.

  Marty looks at Joey.

  Marty: (Quietly, to Joey) So you're my Uncle Joey. Better get used to these bars, kid.

  Stella: (babytalk) Yes, Joey just loves being in his playpen. (normally) He cries whenever we take him out so we just leave him in there all the time. Well Marty, I hope you like meatloaf.

  Marty: Well, uh, listen, uh, I really-

  Lorraine pulls up a chair next to her place at the table.

  Lorraine: Sit here, Marty.

  Sam is fiddling with a TV set. Stella calls to him.

  Stella: Sam, quit fiddling with that thing and come in here and eat your dinner.

  Sam pulls the TV to the table, where everyone can see it.

  Sam: Ho ho ho, look at it roll. Now we could watch Jackie Gleason while we eat.

  Lorraine: (to Marty) Our first television set, Dad just picked it up today. Do you have a television?

  Marty: Well yeah, you know we have two of them.

  Milton: (impressed) Wow, you must be rich.

  Stella: Oh honey, he's teasing you, nobody has two television sets.

  Marty: Hey, hey, I've seen this one, I've seen this one. This is a classic, this is where Ralph dresses up as the man from space.

  The others look on at him, confused.

  Milton: What do you mean you've seen this, it's brand new!

  Marty: Yeah well, I saw it on a rerun.

  The family are even more confused!

  Milton: What's a rerun?

  Marty: You'll find out.

  Stella looks at Marty and wonders about something.

  Stella: You know Marty, you look so familiar, do I know your mother?

  Marty: Yeah, I think maybe you do.

  Stella: Oh, then I wanna give her a call, I don't want her to worry about you.

  Marty: (quickly) You can't, uh, (covering) that is, uh, nobody's home.

  Stella: Oh.

  Marty: Yet.

  Stella: Oh.

  Marty: Uh listen, do you know where Riverside Drive is?

  Sam: It's uh, the other end of town, a block past Maple.

  Marty: (to himself) A block passed Maple, that's John F Kennedy Drive.

  Sam: (confused) Who the hell is John F Kennedy?

  Lorraine: Mother, with Marty's parents out of town, don't you think he oughta spend the night? After all, Dad almost killed him with the car.

  Stella: That's true, Marty, I think you should spend the night. I think you're our responsibility.

  Marty: Well gee, I don't know.

  Lorraine: And he could sleep in my room.

  Marty: I gotta go, uh, I gotta go. Thanks very much, it was wonderful, you were all great. See you all later, (to himself) much later.

  Marty leaves. Stella turns to her husband.

  Stella: He's a very strange young man.

  Sam: He's an idiot, comes from upbringing, parents were probably idiots too. Lorraine, if you ever have a kid like that, I'll disown you.

  Lorraine looks at where Marty was, and smiles to herself.

  Cut to 1640 Riverside Drive. It's a huge mansion! At the end of the driveway is the garage, where Doc lives in 1985. Marty knocks on the door. DOC opens it. He's got something on his head - one of his inventions. There's also a plaster on his forehead as a result of the bruise he had after falling off his toilet.

  Marty: Doc?

  Doc: Don't say a word.

  Doc ushers Marty inside and connects the invention to him.

  Marty: Doc.

  Doc: I don't wanna know your name. I don't wanna know anything about you.

  Marty: Listen, Doc.

  Doc: Quiet.

  Marty: Doc, Doc, it's me, Marty.

  Doc: Don't tell me anything.

  Marty: Doc, you gotta help...

  Doc: Quiet, quiet. I'm gonna read your thoughts. Let's see now, you've come from a great distance?

  Marty: Yeah, exactly.

  Doc: Don't tell me! Uh, you want me to buy a subscription to the Saturday Evening Post?

  Marty: No.

  Doc: Not a word, not a word, not a word now. Quiet, uh, donations, you want me to make a donation to the coast guard youth auxiliary?

  Marty: Doc, I'm from the future. I came here in a time machine that you invented. Now, I need your help to get back to the year 1985.

  Doc is astounded!

  Doc: My God, do you know what this means? It means that this damn thing doesn't work at all!

  Doc takes his mind reading invention off and puts it away.

  Marty: Doc, you gotta help me. You're the only one who knows how your time machine works.

  Doc: (muttering) Time machine, I haven't invented any time machine.

  Marty: OK, All right, I'll prove it to you.

  Marty gets out his wallet and shows it to Doc.

  Marty: Look at my driver's license, expires 1987. Look at my birthday, for crying out loud. I haven't even been born yet! And, look at this picture, my brother, my sister, and me.

  Marty shows Doc a picture of him, Dave and Linda. Linda is wearing a class of '84 sweatshirt. The top of Dave's head is also missing.

  Marty: Look at the sweatshirt, Doc, class of 1984!

  Doc: Pretty mediocre photographic fakery, they cut off your brother's hair.

  Marty: I'm telling the truth, Doc, you gotta believe me.

  Doc: So tell me, Future Boy, who's President of the United States in 1985?

  Marty: Ronald Reagan.

  Doc: Ronald Reagan, the actor? Then who's Vice President? Jerry Lewis?

  During the following Doc leaves his house and goes to his garage with some things. Marty follows him.

  Doc: I suppose Jane Wyman is the First Lady.

  Marty: Whoa, wait, Doc.

  Doc: And Jack Benny is Secretary of the Treasury.

  Marty: Look, you gotta listen to me.

  Doc: I've had enough practical jokes for one evening. Good night, Future Boy!!

  Doc closes the garage door. Marty talks desperately through it to him.

  Marty: No wait, Doc, the bruise, the bruise on your head, I know how that happened, you told me the whole story. You were standing on your toilet and you were hanging a clock, and you fell, and you hit your head on the sink, and that's when you came up with the idea for the flux capacitor, which is what makes time travel possible.

  Doc opens the door and stares at Marty with amazement. He was telling the truth! Cut to outside the Lyon Estate signs. Doc and Marty are looking at the DeLorean.

  Marty: Something wrong with the starter, so I hid it.

  Doc: After I fell off my toilet, I drew this.

  Doc shows Marty a drawing of the flux capacitor.

  Marty: Flux capacitor.

  Marty shows Doc the real thing. Doc is amazed.

  Doc: It works, ha, ha, ha, ha, it works! I finally invent something that works!

  Marty: Bet your ass it works.

  Doc: Well, now we gotta sneak this back into my laboratory. We've gotta get you home!

  Back at the lab, Marty is plugging the video camera into Doc's TV.

  Marty: OK Doc, this is it.

  The video starts playing. 1985 DOC starts speaking on the video.

  1985 Doc: (on video) Never mind that, never mind that now...

  Doc: Why that's me! Look at me, I'
m an old man!

  1985 Doc: (on video) Good evening, I'm Dr Emmett Brown, I'm standing here on the parking lot of Twin Pines Mall. It's Saturday morning, October 26th 1985.....

  Doc: Thank God I still got my hair. What on Earth is that thing I'm wearing?

  Marty: Well, that's a radiation suit.

  He starts fast-forwarding the video.

  Doc: Radiation suit, of course, 'cause of all of the fall out from the atomic wars. This is truly amazing, a portable television studio. No wonder your President has to be an actor, he's gotta look good on television.

  Marty: Whoa, this is it, this is the part coming up, Doc.

  1985 Doc: (on video) No, no, no, this sucker's electrical, but I need a nuclear reaction to generate the 1.21 gigawatts of electricity...

  Doc: What did I just say?

  Marty rewinds the tape.

  1985 Doc: (on video) No, no, no, this sucker's electrical, but I need a nuclear reaction to generate the 1.21 gigawatts of electricity that I need.

  Doc: 1.21 gigawatts? 1.21 gigawatts! Great Scott!

  Marty: What the hell is a gigawatt?

  Doc runs over to his portraits.

  Doc: How could I have been so careless? 1.21 gigawatts! Tom (re: Thomas Edison), how am I gonna generate that kind of power? It can't be done, it can't!

  Marty: Doc, look, all we need is a little plutonium!

  Doc: (sarcastically) I'm sure that in 1985, plutonium is available at every corner drug store, but in 1955, it's a little hard to come by. Marty, I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you're stuck here.

  Marty: Whoa, whoa Doc, stuck here, I can't be stuck here, I got a life in 1985! I got a girl!

  Doc: Is she pretty?

  Marty: Doc, she's beautiful. She's crazy about me.

  Marty gets the flyer out of his pocket.

  Marty: Look at this, look what she wrote me, Doc. That says it all. Doc, you're my only hope.

  Doc: Marty, I'm sorry, but the only power source capable of generating 1.21 gigawatts of electricity is a bolt of lightning.

  Marty realises something!

  Marty: What did you say?

  Doc: A bolt of lightning, unfortunately, you never know when or where it's ever gonna strike.

  Marty shows Doc the flyer.

  Marty: We do now.

  Cut to Doc examining the flyer. He's walking around, thinking as he talks.

  Doc: This is it. This is the answer. It says here that a bolt of lightning is gonna strike the clocktower precisely at 10.04pm next Saturday night. If we could somehow harness this bolt of lightning, channel it into the flux capacitor, it just might work. Next Saturday night, we're sending you back to the future.

  Marty: OK, All right, Saturday is good, Saturday's good, I could spend a week in 1955. I could hang out, you could show me around.

  Doc: Marty, that's completely out of the question, you must not leave this house. You must not see anybody or talk to anybody. Anything you do could have serious replications on future events. Do you understand?

  Marty: Yeah, sure, OK.

  Doc: Marty, have you interacted with anybody else today, besides me?

  Marty: (mumbling a bit) Um, yeah, well I might have sort of ran into my parents.

  Doc: Great Scott! (realises something) Let me see that photograph again of your brother. Just as I thought, this proves my theory, look at your brother.

  Now Marty notices that Dave's head is vanishing.

  Marty: His head's gone, it's like it's been erased.

  Doc: Erased from existence.

  NOVEMBER 7, 1955

  Hill Valley High School. Doc and Marty walk up to the entrance and go inside. Marty is amazed.

  Marty: Whoa, they really cleaned this place up, looks brand new.

  Doc: Now remember, according to my theory you interfered with your parents' first meeting. They don't meet, they don't fall in love, they won't get married and they won't have kids. That's why your older brother's disappeared from that photograph. Your sister will follow and unless you repair the damages, you will be next.

  Marty: This sounds pretty heavy.

  Doc: Weight has nothing to do with it.

  Inside the school, Doc and Marty see students walking to lessons. George is one of them. Some boys are behind him.

  Doc: Which one's your pop?

  Marty: That's him.

  Marty points at George, and we cut to see him. The bullies have pinned a Kick me sign on his back, and are doing just that.

  George: OK, OK you guys, oh ha, ha, ha, very funny. Hey, you guys are being real mature.

  Cut back to Doc.

  Doc: Maybe you were adopted.

  Cut back to George.

  George: OK, real mature guys. OK, Biff, will you pick up my books?

  He doesn't do so because MR STRICKLAND arrives. He's still bald, even in 1955!

  Strickland: McFly!

  Cut to Marty.

  Marty: That's Strickland. Jesus, didn't that guy ever have hair?

  Cut back to George and Strickland.

  Strickland: Shape up, man. You're a slacker. You wanna be a slacker for the rest of your life?

  George: No.

  Cut back to Marty and Doc.

  Doc: What did your mother ever see in that kid?

  Marty: I don't know, Doc, I guess she felt sorry for him cause her dad hit him with the car... hit me with the car.

  Doc: That's a Florence Nightingale effect. It happens in hospitals when nurses fall in love with their patients. Go to it, kid.

  Marty walks over to George - Strickland has now gone.

  Marty: Hey George, buddy, hey, I've been looking all over for you. You remember me, the guy who saved your life the other day?

  George: Yeah.

  Marty: Good, there's somebody I'd like you to meet.

  Marty spots Lorraine and her friends and leads George over to them.

  Marty: Lorraine.

  Lorraine: Calvin!

  Marty: I'd like you to meet my good friend George McFly.

  George: (shyly) Hi, it's really a pleasure to meet you.

  Lorraine: (ignoring George, to Marty) How's your head?

  Marty: Well uh, good, fine.

  Lorraine: Oh, I've been so worried about you ever since you ran off the other night. Are you OK?

  The bell rings and George goes to class.

  Lorraine: I'm sorry I have to go. (to her friends as they leave) Isn't he a dream boat?

  Marty walks back to Doc. They are now alone in the hallway.

  Marty: Doc, she didn't even look at him.

  Doc: This is more serious than I thought. Apparently your mother is amorously infatuated with you instead of your father.

  Marty: Whoa, wait a minute, Doc, are you telling me that my mother has got the hots for me?

  Doc: Precisely.

  Marty: Whoa, this is heavy.

  Doc: There's that word again, heavy. Why are things so heavy in the future? Is there a problem with the Earth's gravitational pull?

  Marty: What?

  Doc: The only way we're gonna get those two to successfully meet is if they're alone together. So you've got to get your father and mother to interact at some sort of social.....

  Marty: What, well you mean like a date?

  Doc: Right.

  Marty: What kind of date? I don't know, what do kids do in the fifties?

  Doc: Well, they're your parents, you must know them. What are their common interests. What do they like to do together?

  Marty: Nothing.

  Doc walks over to some lockers. A poster for the Enchantment Under The Sea Dance is next to them.

  Doc: Look, there's a rhythmic ceremonial ritual coming up.

  Marty: Of course, the Enchantment Under The Sea Dance! They're supposed to go to this, that's where they kiss for the first time.

  Doc: All right kid, you stick to your father like glue and make sure that he takes her to the dance.

  Cut to the cafeteria. George is sitting alone, writing in a pad, when Marty comes
and sits next to him.

  Marty: George, buddy. remember that girl I introduced you to, Lorraine? (notices the writing) What are you writing?

  George: Uh, stories, science fiction stories, about visitors coming down to Earth from another planet.

  Marty: Get out of town, I didn't know you did anything creative! Ah, let me read some.

  George: Oh, no, no, no. I never, uh, I never let anybody read my stories.

  Marty: Why not?

  George: Well, what if they didn't like them, what if they told me I was no good? I guess that would be pretty hard for somebody to understand.

  This reminds Marty of his auditions a few days ago (or 30 years in the future?)

  Marty: Uh no, not hard at all. So anyway, George, now Lorraine, she really likes you. She told me to tell you that she wants you to ask her to the Enchantment Under The Sea Dance.

  George: Really?

  Marty: Oh yeah, all you gotta do is go over there and ask her.

  George: (mortified) What, right here right now in the cafeteria? What if she said no? I don't know if I could take that kind of rejection. Besides, I think she'd rather go with somebody else.

  Marty: Who?

  George: Biff.

  Marty looks over to Lorraine. Biff and his gang are by her table pestering her.

  Biff: C'mon, c'mon.

  Lorraine: Leave me alone.

  Biff: You want it, you know you want it, and you know you want me to give it to you.

  Lorraine: Shut your filthy mouth, I'm not that kind of girl!

  Biff: Well maybe you are and you just don't know it yet.

  Lorraine: Get your meat hooks off of me.

  Biff doesn't. Marty goes towards Biff and pushes him.

  Marty: You heard her, she said get your meat hooks off (realises how much taller Biff is than him) uh please.

  Biff: So what's it to you, butthead? You know you've been looking for a...

  Marty and Biff are about to start fighting when Biff notices Strickland standing there, watching.

  Biff: ...since you're new here, I'm gonna cut you a break. Today. So why don't you make like a tree, and get out of here.

  He lets go of Marty. Marty looks towards George, but he's gone. Cut to a street. George is going home. Marty follows him.

  Marty: George!

  George: Why do you keep following me around?

  Marty: Look, George, I'm telling you George, if you do not ask Lorraine to that dance, I'm gonna regret it for the rest of my life.

  George: But I can't go to the dance. I'll miss my favourite television program, Science Fiction Theater.