What if I was to tell you this is a movie about a careless young man who meets up with a slightly crazy old scientist who swears he has a time machine? And that the young man is taken back into the past and warned to not mess things up except he falls for the wrong woman and has to set things right before the scientist returns to pick him up and taken him to the present time. Do you think I’m talking about Back To The Future? Cause I’m not. This is the plot to Sirius, a Hungarian science fiction romance released in 1942 during World War II. It was 40 years before Marty McFly took his trip. And I’m not saying anyone in Hollywood cribbed this movie because in 1942, American cinemas weren’t running movie by Axis nations no matter how cool they looked. This is a movie that didn’t seem to get noticed in the west until the ’90s when Hungary stopped being controlled by the Soviet Union. By then, we all knew about Back To the Future. Sirius takes us further back with a man who finds his perfect woman in the wrong era.
Count Tibor Ákos gróf (Borrowed Husbands‘ László Szilassy) has returned from a late-night costume ball dressed as military officer from 200 years before. A servant reads him a classified from a professor who swears he will give a huge dowry to the man who marries his daughter. Tibor is down for it and marches to the guy’s mansion. Professor Sergius (Elemér Baló) is impressed by Tibor except instead of talking about marriage, he wants to show off the time machine in his backyard. It’s shaped like a rocket since it goes back in time by going against the revolution of the Earth. The professor wants Tibor to visit the time when his costume was considered contemporary. They professor drops him off except he can’t hang around. Tibor has eight hours to explore and meet him back at a spot with three trees. He’s warned not to change any events. He gets picked up by a coach carrying opera singer Beppo Rosina (Katalin Karády) and quickly falls for the woman. They arrive at a fancy party for the Princess. Things don’t go right when he meets the man who will become his great grandfather. He knows the rules, but will he mess up the future with his plans to bring someone back with him?
Sirius is a bit of an eye opener as a completely obscure science fiction film to the West. I never heard this film discussed by science fiction freaks or even Hungarian filmmakers. If you look at the original poster, the time travel element is downplayed. You’d imagine this was a 18th century romance with dancing. There’s no sign of the time travelling machine near the costumed lovers. Like Back To the Future, Sirius isn’t completely about the gizmos and gadgets. Sure we get the Delorean and the wild rocketship in each film, but their screen time is limited. Both films are about the relationships established during time travel. At least Tibor doesn’t have his future mother checking out his underwear. There are moments when Tibor blurts out the future history of Hungary to people, but he doesn’t introduce the rock guitar solo to the royal court in Budapest.
This is a remarkable movie that probably would have been a sensation if a Hollywood studio had imported it or even ripped off the story. But as the Cold War took effect, no studio was interested in dealing with a Hungarian film made during World War II. Which is an understandable shame. The film is extremely opulent with stunning royal costume and majestic sets. During the fancy dinner, the curtains on the wall pull back to reveal a stage. A musical number takes place that makes it seem like a painting coming alive. You get a sense why Tibor might prefer to stick around the 18th century longer.
This is one of the lost great films of the science fiction. You can no longer talk about cinematic time travel without including Sirius early in the timeline. It is strange to talk about the film and realize that so much of what happens on the screen had an impact on future movies except it was keep out of the loop so it didn’t quite have the same influence other movies. Thankfully the film has been restored with a picture that makes it timeless. Sirius can now be rightfully given standing in the history of time travel movies.
The Video is 1. 37:1 full frame. The black and white transfer looks great in the restored transfer. The Audio is DTS-HD Mono in Hungarian. You hear the sounds of time travelling inside Sirius. The movie is subtitled in English.
Commentary by Stephen R. Bissette film historian and artist on Swamp Thing. He gets the cast and crew. He talks about the ballet performance. We also get the context of the time in Hungary when the movie was made.
SIRIUS Werkfilm (2:27) is silent footage of SIRIUS during production on a 9.5 mm camera. You can see the camera used in the actual film. A crew member sits up a tree with a reflector.
Video interview with György Ráduly, director of the National Film Institute (NFI) – Film Archive (18:54) has Dennis Bartok asking about the rediscovery and restoration of the movie. While Sirius isn’t the first Hungarian science fiction movie, it is the only one whose film elements have survived. He points out how it shares the same concepts as Back To The Future. They seem to think Somewhere In Time has a lot more in common with Sirius. Ráduly says the film didn’t get played during the communist times. It reemerged in the ’90s although the transfer wasn’t in great shape then. They used a nitrate 35mm release prints for the restoration since the camera negatives are gone. We learn about Katalin Karády’s sacrifices to save others during World War II.
Hungary at a Tipping Point (20:18) is a video essay by Ryan Verrill and professor Dr. Will Dodson lets us know the book was published before H.G. Well’s The Time Machine. We get a sense of Hungary’s attitude and business in film. Many of the big names of Hollywood got their start in Budapest. How were things when the movie was being produced and released? Director Dezső Ákos Hamza gets his filmography laid out.
Trailer (2:48) is made by Deaf Crocodile. We get a sense of how they go back in time.
Deaf Crocodile presents Sirius. Directed by Dezső Ákos Hamza. Screenplay by Péter Rákóczi. Starring Katalin Karády, László Szilassy, Elemér Baló, Géza Berczy, Jenő Bodnár, Ilona Bánhidy, Endre C. Turáni, Jenő Danis & Sári Déry. Running Time: 103 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: November 11, 2025.
