In 1990, the world was introduced toTwin Peaksas the fictional setting of TV’s biggest mystery, “Who killed Laura Palmer?” The series, created byDavid LynchandMark Frost, starsKyle MacLachlanas FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper as he falls in love with the quaint Washington town during the investigation of Laura’s (Sheryl Lee) murder. The series changed the landscape of television, with homage toTwin Peaksbeing paid in seemingly everythingfromThe SimpsonstoPsych.But despite its unique charm,Lynch and Frost are very open about the inspirations behindTwin Peaksitself, namely, Film Noir.
Film Noir is a pessimistic genre about the duality of man, often represented by American detective thrillers from the 1940s and 1950s.To witness David Lynch’s love for mid-century Americana and its seedy underbelly, one needs to look no further thanhis 1986 film,Blue Velvet, which serves as an on-ramp for Lynch’s ideas that eventually led toTwin Peaks.Blue Velvet’s star (and Lynch’s then-girlfriend),Isabella Rossellini, was even set to play the role of Josie Packard originally, a role ultimately played byJoan Chen. But just like with any good detective thriller, the connections go far deeper than that, with many ofTwin Peaks' characters named after famous Film Noir characters that came before.
Twin Peaks
An idiosyncratic FBI agent investigates the murder of a young woman in the even more idiosyncratic town of Twin Peaks.
Just Like in ‘Twin Peaks’, Laura Is at the Center of It All
Despite dying before the events ofTwin Peaks, Laura becomes loved by Cooper and the audience alike through the clues about her troubled past. When Laura’s identical cousin, Maddy, visits,the show reveals who killed Laura by having it happen again, this time to Maddy.Critics were quick to notice the links between Laura Palmer’s story andthe 1944 film,Laura, in which an NYPD detective named Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) falls in love with Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney) while investigating her murder. It’s 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, much like Maddy inTwin Peaks.
In the 1944 film directed byOtto Preminger, Detective McPherson interviews the charismatic newspaper columnist, Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb), who eventually becomes the case’s prime suspect. If this name seems familiar toTwin Peaksfans, it’s because “Laura” is not the only name to be borrowed from the 1944 movie.InTwin Peaks, bird claw marks on Laura’s body lead Agent Rosenfield (Miguel Ferrer) to check Lydecker Veterinary Clinic for records of a pet bird; this myna bird is named Waldo. Waldo, who belonged to Jacques Renaut (Walter Olkewicz), was present at the murder of Laura Palmer, but was swiftly shot by Leo Johnson (Eric DaRe). Therefore,theLauracharacter, Waldo Lydecker, inspired the names of not one, but two characters inTwin Peaks.
Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Vertigo’ Inspired Maddy’s Storyline in ‘Twin Peaks’
When Sheryl Lee returns toTwin Peaksas Laura’s identical cousin, Maddy Ferguson, it was in reference to more than justLaura. Many fans were quick to note that"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 Dead, byBoileau-Narcejac, and followsJames Stewartas Scottie Ferguson, an acrophobic private eye hired by Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore) to follow his wife, Madeleine. Scotty soon falls in love with Madeleine himself, only to witness her fall from a bell tower and die.
Kyle MacLachlan Ushered in a New Era of Cool Detective in ‘Twin Peaks’
Kyle MacLachlan is a damn fine detective in ‘Twin Peaks.’
Later, Scottie stumbles upon a woman named Judy Barton (alsoKim Novak) who bears an uncanny resemblance to the late Madeleine Elster. Scotty soon uncovers that Judy was a mistress of Gavin’s, hired to pose as Madeleine, and lure Scotty to the bell tower. There, Scotty’s acrophobia (and titular vertigo) prevented him from seeing that, at the top, Madaleine had flung the recently-murdered body of the real Madaleine Elster as a staged suicide.Not only doesTwin Peakspay homage to the plot of Hitchcock’s thriller with Maddy’s first name, but also with her last name, which is taken from James Stewart’s “Scotty Ferguson.”
‘Twin Peaks’ Features Easter Eggs for ‘Sunset Boulevard’ and ‘Double Indemnity’
The links between the 1990s series and Film Noir classics don’t end there. Other notable mentions includeTwin Peaks' insurance agent, Walter Neff (Mark Lowenthal), named after the Fred MacMurray character inBilly Wilder’s 1944 movie,Double Indemnity.The film follows MacMurray’s insurance salesman as he and Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) exploit the double indemnity clause of her husband’s life insurance policy for financial gain. Another link is, of course, David Lynch’s own acting role inTwin Peaks, as FBI Regional Bureau Chief Gordon Cole. It makes sense that Lynch named his own character after one of his favorite films, with Gordon Cole getting his name fromBert Moorhouse’s character in Wilder’s 1950 film,Sunset Boulevard.
As forTwin Peaks' hero, Dale Bartholomew Cooper, it’s said that Lynch wanted to shroud the character with a veil of unspoken mystery by naming the special agent afterreal-life Washington State figure,D.B. Cooper. The real Cooper famously executed “the perfect heist” on a 1971 flight over Washington and is still yet to be caught. As for the show’s other hero, Sheriff Harry S. Truman (Michael Ontkean), he serves his town much like his namesake president did between 1945 and 1953. It should be noted thatnot only does President Truman’s term relate thematically to the age of the atomic bomb (explored inTwin Peaks: The Return), but it was also in the age of Film Noir.Harry Truman could also be named afterHarry R. Truman, a Washington-based bootlegger and local folk hero like D.B. Cooper.
But why wouldDavid Lynchopt to name the heroes ofTwin Peaksafter criminal folk heroes? Likely for the same reason that Film Noir themes are so present in this quirky, fun series. This kind of balance between good and evil is explored throughout the series, even down to its name.Twin Peaks—as a town and as a series—sees good and bad both “peak” within its characters, particularly with Laura Palmer, whose Noir-esque murder triggers the entire show. Just like 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 will lead us, but I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange.”
