The Big Picture
- Mr. Strickland, played by actor James Tolkan, appears in all three Back to the Future films and is present in both the 1955 and 2015 timelines.
- In Back to the Future Part III , Tolkan appears again to play another member of the Strickland family, who gets brutally murdered in a deleted scene.
- Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale deleted the scene because it was too much of a tonal shift in what is ultimately a lighthearted movie.
If you were to take a survey and ask film lovers to name a movie they can watch over and over again and never get sick of it, there's a good chance Back to the Future and its sequels are going to be at the top of the list, and for good reason. We love how likable Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) is and his relationship with Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd). Then there's the adventure, as Marty is stuck in a different era and must find a way to get back home to his time against all odds. That cool-looking DeLorean doesn't hurt either. Although the franchise does deal with some heavy subject material at times, such as how the end of the first Back to the Future sees Marty back in 1985 where his parents, as he once knew them, no longer exist, the trilogy is a feel-good adventure with good guys versus bad guys, fast cars, and lots of laughs.
For the last film, 1990's Back to the Future Part III, things almost got very dark, as one deleted scene shows a good guy actually being killed on screen, shot in the back by the villain, Buford Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson), in front of his young son. Lives are risked in the trilogy, but no one ever dies. Thankfully, director Robert Zemeckis and writer Bob Gale realized the error of their ways before the final cut was released, but the deleted scene still altered how one pivotal scene played out.
Back to the Future Part III
PGThe final entry in Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale's timeless trilogy, Back to the Future Part III wraps up Marty McFly and Doc Brown's adventures through time when Marty travels to 1885's Wild West to save his mentor, meeting Biff Tannen's ancestor "Mad Dog" and almost changing the course of history once again along the way.
Release Date May 25, 1990 Director Robert Zemeckis Cast Michael J. Fox , Christopher Lloyd , Mary Steenburgen , Thomas F. Wilson , Lea Thompson Runtime 118 minutesActor James Tolkan Appears in All Three 'Back to the Future' Films
Marty McFly is a carefree kid in 1985, but he has a nemesis in his high school principal, Mr. Strickland (James Tolkan). Strickland is a very serious man who is there to confront Marty when he's late for school, telling him that he's a slacker, just like his father was. He also tells Marty to stop hanging around that "nutcase" Doc Brown, but how he knows Brown isn't revealed. With how the two characters never age, perhaps they went to school together. Strickland is an angry, unlikable man, even going so far as to get in Marty's face and tell him that "no McFly has ever amounted to anything in the history of Hill Valley." Not one to back down, Marty tells him, "Well, history's gonna change." It sure did. Strickland is there when Marty goes back to 1955 as well, still as the principal, and with the joke being that he's still bald. He's there to stop Biff Tannen (Wilson) and Marty from fighting in the cafeteria, and is seen as the chaperon of the Enchantment Under the Sea dance.
Strickland is there in Back to the Future Part II as well. After Marty makes a mess of 2015, he goes back to an altered 1985 where Biff Tannen now controls Hill Valley, which has become a crime-ridden wasteland. Confused, Marty picks up a newspaper from someone's porch, only to be confronted by Strickland pointing a shotgun at his head. This version of the man has no idea who Marty is. He's seen again in the 1955 scenes, giving Biff grief and taking his sports almanac from him. Marty has to sneak into Strickland's office right under his nose to get it back, only to discover that it's a pornographic magazine with the sports almanac cover slapped on it. While never a lead, Strickland is an important and memorable character in those films, so it was only fitting that James Tolkan, the actor who played him, came back for Back to the Future Part III to play another member of the Strickland family.
Biff Murders Marshall Strickland in a 'Back to the Future Part III' Deleted Scene
CloseBack to the Future Part III has Marty going back to 1885, where Doc Brown now resides, after discovering that his friend is going to be shot dead by Buford Tannen in a matter of days. Just like Biff was in 1955 and the alternate 1985, Buford is an awful bully, except this time much worse. Tannen has no qualms with killing, as he not only kills Doc Brown in this 1885, but tries to hang Marty and later shoots him in the chest during a duel, with our hero only saved because he had a steel plate under his shirt.
Hill Valley might seem lawless with Buford and his gang running about, but they are held somewhat in check by James Strickland, who is the Marshall. While he might be an ancestor of the principal from decades later, this Strickland has long flowing hair. The first time we meet him is at a town festival, where he and his deputy (Donovan Scott) stop Buford and his men to make sure they're unarmed. When they refuse, Strickland appears alongside his young son (Kaleb Henley) and points his shotgun at Buford, who decides to comply. The Marshall tells Buford "the only party I'll be smiling at is the one that sees you at the end of a rope." Buford looks angry but says nothing as he rides off. Meanwhile, Marshall Strickland turns to his son and tells him that was the way to handle the situation. "Never give them an inch and maintain discipline at all times. Remember that word. Discipline."
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Related'Back to the Future's Original Ending Could've Completely Changed the Entire Franchise
Marty McFly almost had some serious explaining to do.
It's a funny moment connecting this Strickland to the one from 1955 and 1985, but in a deleted scene from Back to the Future Part III, we would've seen him again, just to watch him die. The scene shows Buford and his men riding their horses through the woods, where they come upon the Marshall and his son pointing their guns at them, telling them they'd gone far enough and wanted no trouble. Buford promises the Marshall that if he stays out of his way there won't be any, but in the next instant he's pulling out his pistol and shooting the gun from the Marshall's hand. Strickland's son is then told to drop his gun too and he does. Buford tells Strickland that he's in Hill Valley for a personal matter, and that he'll kill his son if they don't leave. With no other choice, Strickland lets Buford have his way and starts to ride away. Then comes the shocking moment, for when Strickland has his back turned, Buford shoots the man in the back. "I lied, Marshall," he says, as he rides away. Strickland's son cries out for his father and goes to his side. Before the Marshall dies, he gives his final words to his son: "Remember that word, son. Discipline."
Why Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale Decided To Delete the Scene
The scene is played for laughs, but there is nothing funny about it. The Back to the Future franchise has had people die (George McFly is talked about as being dead in the alternate 1985 and Doc Brown is revealed to die in 1885 through a newspaper article), but those deaths aren't shown, and just as important, they're reversed so that they never happened. Here, though, Marshall Strickland's demise is shown close up in front of his young child, and there will be no reversing it.
Thankfully, Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale decided to cut Marshall Strickland's death out of Back to the Future Part III. Gale talks about it in the DVD commentary for the film, saying, "We decided that it was too grim to actually have this murder committed in the movie. It put a pallor on everything, and it also made the audience want Marty to kill Buford because he shot Strickland in the back." It was a wise choice to not include the scene. It would have taken the fun out of the climactic fight because even though Marty won, the Marshall is still dead, and having Buford simply fall in manure is not enough justice. Having Marty kill him would have been even worse, because that's the absolute last thing Back to the Future or Marty McFly is about. Back to the Future Part III struggles with the tonal shift in Strickland's death. In the deleted scene, he dies with a laugh line, and when Buford is defeated, the town residents smile and laugh, like they have already forgotten or just don't care that their Marshall is still gone.
With the deleted scene out, the town's lighthearted response becomes appropriate rather than dismissive and cruel, but there was no reversing how an integral scene that followed played out in the final cut. After Marty defeats Buford and sends the villain into a cart full of manure, it's not Marshall Strickland who shows up but his deputy. It leads to an interesting scene where the deputy tells Tannen, "You're under arrest for robbing the Pine City Stage." As he's saying this, the camera cuts to Buford's face, and we never see the Deputy's mouth say the words. That's because he didn't. Gale said, "What he actually said was 'You're under arrest for the murder of Marshall James Strickland.' We cut away to excise that line of dialogue." The line we know was added in later. While it's a good thing that Marshall Strickland's death scene was eliminated, this is a letdown because we want the Marshall to be the one to arrest Buford, but the moment was not reshot. If only Robert Zemeckis had some discipline, Marshall Strickland might have had his big moment!
Back to the Future Part III is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.
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