- "You're safe and sound now, back on the good old 27th floor."
- —Lorraine Baines McFly Tannen
A view of the entrance to the casino/hotel
Biff Tannen's Pleasure Paradise Casino & Hotel was a casino and hotel founded and owned by Biff Tannen following his spectacular gambling winning streak, which was actually the result of being given Gray's Sports Almanac by his older self in the 1955 of the alternate 1985 universe. It was located in the same spot where the Hill Valley courthouse once was.
It consisted of at least 30 floors of hotel space, a casino located on the main floor and a museum dedicated to Biff himself. The Marty McFly of regular 1985 was shocked when he saw the entrance to the museum, even more horrified when he found out that his mother had married Biff in 1973. It appears to be a very popular place, as Marty saw dozens of motorcycles parked in the casino and hotel's parking lot, and quite a few more on their way there. The affects of 1985A were eventually reversed, and Pleasure Paradise faded into nonexistence.
Layout
The aging courthouse, located where the hotel was in the alternate 1985
Among the other places in the huge hotel/casino, there was a room where a jacuzzi and television were located, where Biff watched A Fistful of Dollars on the same night that Marty McFly traveled to 1985 hoping to be home, but instead found out that he had traveled to "Hell Valley". It had a flat roof where Biff confronted Marty on the night of October 26, 1985, after Marty attacked him in an attempt to run for his life after Tannen was about to shoot him following a conversation about Gray's Sports Almanac, in which Biff kept his older self's advice about shooting a "crazy, wild-eyed scientist or a kid" that would show up asking about the book. Also, Marty's room was on the 27th floor, although he was constantly being kicked out of boarding schools and didn't spend a lot of time there. As of October 1985, the latest boarding school he went to was in Switzerland, as determined by Biff's furious statement to Marty when he found out he had returned. The steps leading up to it had a red carpet down the middle of them, suggesting the luxurious setting. Above the entrance there was a big illustration of Biff smoking a wad of cash, and, at the top of the building, neon lit up the word "Biff's" in bright blue.
Setting
Hill Valley, California, 24 years before construction on Pleasure Paradise began
Pleasure Paradise was set in Hill Valley, California, a regular-sized town probably in the northern section of the far-west US state of California. It was located in the courthouse square downtown, and was on the same plot of land the courthouse and clock tower were. Although Hill Valley was originally a quiet neighborhood, it quickly became a bustling town that attracted a wide variety of people -- mainly because of the casino. In 1979, the high school burnt down, and the library was boarded up by 1985, encouraging crime to come to the town. For example, Mr. Strickland was shot at from a car by a group of teenagers, possible Douglas J. Needles and his gang. Strickland, however, had a large gun kept inside his house that he used to fire back at them. Overall, the casino/hotel started in a small town, but later was located inside a well-populated urban area.
History
Rise
- "You see this book? This book tells the future. It tells the outcome of every major sports event till the end of the century...football, baseball, basketball, horse racing. This book is worth millions, and I'm giving it to you."
- —Old Biff Tannen
On the crisp afternoon of November 12, 1955, the older version of Biff gave Gray's Sports Almanac to himself, after overhearing a conversation between Doc Brown and Marty McFly, in which he discovered the invention of a time machine, and later stealing the DeLorean time machine and traveling 60 years into the past. After his conviction of the book's future origin was strong, young Biff took the book. On his 21st birthday, a trip to the race tracks made him a millionaire, and his lucky winning streak began. In 1979, Biff Tannen successfully legalized gambling. Following that, construction on a grand hotel and casino began -- thus Pleasure Paradise was born. Replacing the 94-year-old courthouse, which had a clock tower that had not operated since 1955, Pleasure Paradise probably opened in 1980. Hill Valley was now a center of organized crime and gang warfare, although, by 1985, the casino/hotel was immensely popular.
Downfall
Biff Tannen in Pleasure Paradise
- "Go ahead kid, jump! Suicide'll be nice and neat."
- —Biff Tannen
After Marty ran away, Biff started shooting at him. Marty was pursued by security -- Biff's 1955 gang of Match, Skinhead, and 3-D -- and later by Biff himself. When he saw the three rush down a metal staircase, he glanced over at the door to the roof, saw that it was just closing, and went onto the roof. McFly jumped the 30+ plus feet -- or at least in Biff's mind. Much to his surprise, Marty had landed on the DeLorean time machine, and Emmett Brown lifted the door to the sports car and hit Tannen on the head, knocking him out. They then, at the time of 2:42 AM, traveled to 1955, where they retrieved the sports almanac from young Biff after an encounter with an D. Jones Manure Handling Company truck. After that, 1985-A was nonexistent, and the luxurious casino & hotel became the dull, century-old courthouse once again, and the powerful millionare known as Biff Tannen changed back into the grumpy, middle-aged auto detailer he was before Doc and Marty's trip to 2015. However, due to a malfunction in the DeLorean, Doc got sent back to 1885, and Marty had to rely on his scientist friend's 1955 counterpart if he were ever to enjoy the world free of Biff Tannen's Pleasure Paradise Casino & Hotel.
Known Residents
The following is a list of known residents of Pleasure Paradise as of October 27, 1985:
Biff watches A Fistful of Dollars with two women
Behind the Scenes
When Marty is watching the documentary on Biff's life, there is a still shot of Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen. In the DVD commentary, Bob Gale stated that it was a still shot of Tannen's early makeup test, and that the look was changed before Back to the Future Part III came out.