‘Twin Peaks’ Film Noir Easter Eggs Run Deeper Than You Think

The big picture

• Twin Peaks
  The roots are in Film Noir, with characters and stories that pay homage to iconic films like Laura and Vertigo.
• The names of
  Twin Peaks
  characters like Waldo and Maddy are directly inspired by their Film Noir counterparts.
• The show's heroes, such as Cooper and Truman, are inspired by real-life and cinematic crime figures, adding depth to their characters.

In 1990 it became known to the world Twin Peaks as the fictional setting of television's greatest mystery, “Who Killed Laura Palmer?” The series, created by David Lynch i Mark Froststars Kyle MacLachlan as FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper as he falls in love with the picturesque town of Washington during his investigation of Laura (Sheryl Lee) murdered. The series changed the landscape of television, with a tribute to Twin Peaks be paid in apparently all of The Simpsons a Psych. But despite its unique charm, Lynch and Frost are very open about the inspirations behind it Twin Peaks itself, that is, Film Noir.

Film Noir is a pessimistic genre about the duality of man, often represented by American detective thrillers of the 1940s and 1950s. To witness David Lynch's love of mid-century Americana and its underbelly, look no further than his 1986 film, Blue velvetwhich serves as an on-ramp for Lynch's ideas that eventually led Twin Peaks. Blue velvetthe star of (and Lynch's then-girlfriend), Isabella Rossellinishe was even set to play the role of Josie Packard originally, a role she eventually played John Chen. But as with any good detective thriller, the connections run much deeper than that, with many Twin Peaks' characters named after famous Film Noir characters from before.

Just like in 'Twin Peaks', Laura is at the center of everything

Despite dying before the events of Twin Peaks, Laura endears herself to Cooper and the audience alike through clues about her troubled past. When Laura's identical cousin Maddy visits, the show reveals who killed Laura causing it to happen again, this time to Maddy. Critics were quick to note the links between Laura Palmer's story and the 1944 film, Laurain which an NYPD detective named Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) falls in love with Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney) while investigating his murder. It is revealed that Laura is alive and that the woman who was shot in the face was mistaken for the real Laura. Now, she must be protected from the killer's next attempt, just like Maddy Twin Peaks.

In the 1944 film directed by Otto PremingerDetective McPherson interviews charismatic newspaper columnist Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb), who eventually becomes the prime suspect in the case. If this name sounds familiar Twin Peaks fans, that's because “Laura” isn't the only name borrowed from the 1944 film. In Twin Peaksbirdclaw marks on the body of Laura, Senior Agent Rosenfield (Miguel Ferrer) to check the Lydecker Veterinary Clinic for records of a pet bird; this myna bird is called Waldo. Waldo, which belonged to Jacques Renaut (Walter Olkewicz), was present at the murder of Laura Palmer, but was quickly shot by Leo Johnson (Eric DaRe). So, the Laura The character, Waldo Lydecker, inspired the names of not one, but two Twin Peaks.

Alfred Hitchcock's 'Vertigo' inspired Maddy's story in 'Twin Peaks'

When Sheryl Lee returns to Twin Peaks as Laura's identical cousin Maddy Ferguson was in reference to more than just Laura. Many fans didn't notice this quickly “Maddy” (or rather, “Madeleine”) was also the name of Kim Novak's doppelgänger characterin Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 film, Vertigo. This psychological thriller is based on the 1954 novel, The Living and the Deadfor Boileau-Narcejacand follow James Stewart as Scottie Ferguson, an acrophobic detective hired by Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore) to follow his wife, Madeleine. Scotty soon falls in love with Madeleine herself, only to witness her fall from a bell tower to her death.

Later, Scottie meets a woman named Judy Barton (also Kim Novak) who bears an uncanny resemblance to the late Madeleine Elster. Scotty soon discovers that Judy was Gavin's mistress, hired to pose as Madeleine and lure Scotty to the bell tower. There, Scotty's acrophobia (and titular vertigo) prevented him from seeing that, upstairs, Madaleine had dumped the recently murdered body of the real Madaleine Elster as a staged suicide. It doesn't just do it Twin Peaks pay homage to the plot of Hitchcock's thriller with the name Maddy, but also with her surnamewhich is taken from “Scotty Ferguson” by James Stewart.

'Twin Peaks' includes Easter eggs for 'Sunset Boulevard' and 'Double Indemnity'

The links between the 90s series and Film Noir classics don't end there. Other notable mentions include Twin Peaks'insurance agent Walter Neff (Mark Lowenthal), named after Fred MacMurray's character in the 1944 Billy Wilder film, Double compensation. The film follows MacMurray's insurance salesman as he and Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) to exploit the double indemnity clause of her husband's life insurance policy for financial gain. Another link is, of course, David Lynch's acting role Twin Peaks, like FBI Regional Office Chief Gordon Cole. It makes sense that Lynch named his own character after one of his favorite movies, with Gordon Cole getting his name Bert Moorhousethe character in Wilder's 1950 film, Sunset Blvd.

As to Twin Peaks'Hero, Dale Bartholomew Cooper, Lynch is said to have wanted to shroud the character in an unspoken veil of mystery by naming the special agent after the real-life Washington state figure. DB Cooper. The real Cooper pulled off “the perfect heist” in a 1971 flight over Washington and has yet to be caught. As for the show's other hero, Sheriff Harry S. Truman (Michael Ontkean), serves his city as did its homonymous president between 1945 and 1953. It should be noted that President Truman's term is not only thematically related to the age of the atomic bomb (explored in Twin Peaks: The Return), but it was also in the Film Noir era. Harry Truman could also be named Harry R. Trumana Washington-based bootlegger and local folk hero like DB Cooper.

But why would David Lynch choose to name the heroes of? Twin Peaks after criminal folk heroes? Probably for the same reason that Film Noir themes are so present in this quirky and fun series. This kind of balance between good and evil is explored throughout the series, even down to its name. Twin Peaks—as a city and as a series, it sees good and bad both as “peaks” within its characters, especially with Laura Palmer, whose noir-style murder sets the whole show in motion. As in Film Noir, duality is at the center of everything, with doppelgängers even appearing from time to time to personify this theme. As Cooper himself says, “I have no idea where this is going to take us, but I have a definite feeling it's going to be a wonderful, strange place.”

Twin Peaks is available to stream on Paramount+ in the US

Watch Paramount+