David Lynch and Sunset Boulevard

[snikgrif]

I see two references by David Lynch to the film Sunset Boulevard, one in Twin Peaks as the Agent Gordon Cole and the other in Mulholland Drive when he shows the street name echoing the original films shot.

I was wondering, firstly, why are these being referenced? Is it just because David was very fond of this film, or are there other reasons?

Secondly, are there any other references elsewhere in Davids work to Sunset Boulevard and/or any other films?

[Simon]

David loves film noir, so references are pretty frequent, including quite a few in Twin Peaks. He uses stylistic devices to evoke the genre, and these are reinforced (for people who are familiar enough with it) by little references - I guess it's also a way of tipping his hat to a genre of films he loves and has been influenced by, and it's kind of fun.
Off the top of my head:
In Laura (1944) there is a character called Waldo Lydecker. Jaque Renault's bird's name in Twin Peaks was Waldo, the vet (and friend of Philip Gerard) was called Dr. Lydecker.
The Life Insurance broker who comes to see Catherine Martell in series 1 episode 6 (I think that's right) is called "Mr. Neff." The protagonist of Double Indemnity (1944) is an insurance salesman called Walter Neff (that's a fantastic film btw).

In a scene near the beginning of Blue Velvet, Jeffrey's mother and aunt are watching some kind of film noir on the television - I'm not sure what it is they're watching.

I know there are loads more but can't remember right now.

[snikgrif]

Thanks Simon, thats very interesting, I am going to have to make notes. Some more detective work for me then, as I hunt down other references to film noir in Davids work. There's never a dull moment with David Lynch it seems to me.

[Teopeaks]

Another film noir which is referenced to in Twin Peaks is the wonderful Laura by Otto Prominger.

First, the story is very similar, a detective lieutenant, McPherson, falls in love with the victim of a murder, by building a mental picture of the dead girl. They don't end up in the red room together, but it's close.

During the whole movie, there's a whole reference to a wooden clock, exactly the same one which is in the Hayward's living room in one episode, and never appears again.

Then, the victim is called Laura and one of the suspect is called Waldo Lydecker, two names used in Twin Peaks. Waldo, the bird, was owned by doctor Bob Lydecker.

In Laura, there's also an artist called Jacoby.

It's a tremendous film.

[snikgrif]

Cheers Theo, I think I will have to trawl through ebay for a load of noir films, purely for research of course. Great!

[DarkGlobe]

The shot of the grandparents(?) laughing in the back of the taxi from MD reminds me of a similar shot of the 2 sisters laughing from Dont Look Now (Nicolas Roeg 1973). Theres a very similar creepy feeling in that we don't know (but maybe suspect) that they might be laughing AT the protagonists.

[snikgrif]

The shot of the grandparents(?) laughing in the back of the taxi from MD reminds me of a similar shot of the 2 sisters laughing from Dont Look Now (Nicolas Roeg 1973). Theres a very similar creepy feeling in that we don't know (but maybe suspect) that they might be laughing AT the protagonists.

A lot of people see the grandparents as Diane's conscience, especially at the end when the nagging drives her to suicide, so how I see it is that the jeering smiles and all knowing looks between the two in Diane's dream are her conscience making a mockery of the false world Diane is creating in her dream. So in that respect they are laughing at Diane.

It has been awhile since I have watched 'Don't Look Now', didn't one of the sisters have foresight, and knew that he was in danger, so she would know something that he didn't, but I can't remember the context in which they were laughing, although I can remember them doing so?

[Teopeaks]

Has anyone noticed (maybe everyone in which case i'd be the last to know) that the actress who plays the grandmother in Mulholland Drive was Mary X's mother in Eraserhead?

[DarkGlobe]

It has been awhile since I have watched 'Don't Look Now', didn't one of the sisters have foresight, and knew that he was in danger, so she would know something that he didn't, but I can't remember the context in which they were laughing, although I can remember them doing so?

Yes the blind sister had foresight and they were both shown to be a quite anxious couple. They are shown laughing in their hotel room (I think) around the time that Donald Sutherlands character has his near fatal accident. I think that Nicolas Roeg definitely used some of the same techniques and devies that are found in Lynch's later films - parallel realities, fractured timeline etc.

[DarkGlobe]

Has anyone noticed (maybe everyone in which case i'd be the last to know) that the actress who plays the grandmother in Mulholland Drive was Mary X's mother in Eraserhead?

I hadnt noticed that! Well spotted -I'll have to check that out now in trainspottery fashion. Speaking of grandmothers - I wonder if Mary X's grandmother in Eraserhead is played by the same actress who plays the old lady in the pawnshop at the beginning of 'The Man Who Fell To Earth'. There's a strong resemblance at any rate..

[John Neff]

"Sunset Boulevard" is probably David's favorite film. It is the first film we ran at the studio when it was new, and Billy Wilder was invited. Being that he was 90 at the time, he declined.
There is another Sunset Blvd. reference in Mulholland Drive. The gate Betty goes through is the same one Norma Desmond goes in and the actual old Italian Limousine from "SB" was hired out of an auto museum in Las Vegas and brought to Paramount, and was placed in the same spot outside the offices area of the studio as it was in "SB". You only see it for an instant. Look for it.
Also, when Rita is stumbling down into town after the wreck, she glances up and sees the "Sunset Boulevard" sign, and we hear strains of a tension theme from that film.

OK, have fun.

[Asterisk]

I just watched SB for the first time last week and really liked it a lot. I will now go and check out those gates, John, thanks!

BTW, I assumed the insurance salesman Neff was named after John Neff, not a character in Double Indemnity. Who's right?


On a kind of related note, Philip Gerard (The One-Armed Man) is also the name of the cop in The Fugitive.

[snikgrif]

OK, have fun.

Will do John, and thanks.

DarkGlobe, you've got me wondering now, why were the two sisters in 'Don't Look Now' laughing? Hmmm. I'm going to have to see that film again.

[John Neff]

Well, thanks for the compliment, but when Twin Peaks was made, I was living in Maui and owned a studio with Walter Becker from Steely Dan. I had heard of David Lynch, but had probably only seen "Dune" at that point. There's another whole story about that - the "Dune"/Frank Herbert/Maui/Toto connection.

I am certain that the "Mr. Neff" character in TP was named after Fred MacMurray's character in "Double Indemnity". That was, I believe, also a Billy Wilder film.

[snikgrif]

....and the actual old Italian Limousine from "SB" was hired out of an auto museum in Las Vegas and brought to Paramount, and was placed in the same spot outside the offices area of the studio as it was in "SB". You only see it for an instant. Look for it.

A major part of the movie SB and what a car! On the extras to the SB dvd it tells me that the car cost $50,000 back in 1929, (which would be the same as $500,000 today). How do you spell it? 'Something' Frusati?

Also it has a connection with Gordon Cole in the movie