20 Things You Somehow Missed In Back To The Future
10. Ronald Reagan!? The Actor?!
When Marty arrives in 1955, he has to convince Doc he has travelled from the future. Naturally, Doc challenges Marty's story and asks him who is the US president in 1985. When Marty correctly answers by saying Ronald Reagan, Doc scoffs at this proclamation. Although the writer was worried Ronald Reagan may be offended by this scene, the former president thoroughly enjoyed it. When the director learned that Reagan enjoyed the film, he asked Reagan to cameo in Back to the Future Part III.
But this isn't the only reference to Reagan in the film. When Marty realises he has gone back in time, he looks up at the Essex Theatre and notices it is playing Cattle Queen of Montana. This was a Western released in 1954. In the movie, Reagan plays a hired gunman who helps a woman reclaim her land from a nefarious rancher. This scene was included to highlight how preposterous it sounds when Marty tells Doc that an actor known for starring in Westerns was going to be in charge of the entire country.
Weirdly, Cattle Queen of Montana was the last film Reagan watched before his presidency ended.