10 Movies Teased In Other Movies YEARS Earlier

7. A Guy Named Joe, Later Remade By Spielberg, Is Playing On The TV - Poltergeist

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MGM

Though Poltergeist was officially directed by Tobe Hooper, it's no secret these days that writer-producer Steven Spielberg was intimately involved with the creative process and, depending on who you believe, perhaps even directed a large part of the film.

His creative stamp is all over it, yet never more slyly than when we briefly see a clip of a classic Spencer Tracy movie on the TV before it turns to static.

This is in fact Victor Fleming's 1943 fantasy-war classic A Guy Named Joe, a film Spielberg himself is a huge fan of. Lo and behold, then, Spielberg ended up remaking it seven years after Poltergeist under the title Always.

Better yet, Spielberg's designs on A Guy Named Joe go back even further than Poltergeist: while making Jaws in 1974, the director and star Richard Dreyfuss bonded over their love of the film, and tacitly agreed to remake it one day.

In 1989 that finally came true, with Dreyfuss taking the lead role previously played by Tracy.

Contributor
Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.