Discworld Noir - Film Noir References

Film Noir References

Discworld Noir makes both incredibly overt and alternatively densely obscure references to many noir films, in particular the noted Humphrey Bogart films Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon. Some of the references include:

• Lewton is named after horror-noir producer Val Lewton. Josh Kirby's Discworld Noir cover illustration features a wolf posed in a similar manner to the cat on the cover of the Lewton film Cat People.
• The Tsortese Falchion is a parody of the Maltese Falcon.
• The character of Mundy may be a reference to Thursby in The Maltese Falcon. Both die (and 'Thursby' almost sounds like 'Thursday').
• Al Khali and Jasper Horst are direct parodies of two characters from The Maltese Falcon. Joel Cairo, played by Peter Lorre, is short in stature, named after a city and turns out to be the messenger for a huge man named Casper Gutman. In Noir, Al Khali is a dwarf named after an equally sandy city, and the lackey of a huge troll by the name of Jasper Horst. Gutman is rather rotund and to reflect this, Horst refers to the troll's shape ('Horst' being a geological term for a large outcrop of rock between two parallel faults. Curiously, this description also reflects his role in the game's storyline). Horst uses lines directly taken from Gutman's dialogue in The Maltese Falcon. The way Lewton is followed by Al Khali is a reference to another character, Wilmer.
• The troll "Mount" Malachite is extremely similar to the strong but slow witted Moose Malloy in Farewell, My Lovely, and Noir's "Therma" subplot is almost identical to the double identity sub-plot found in the film.
• Noir's ending is an homage to Casablanca's.
• Regin the dwarf coachman combines elements of three of the murder victims found in The Big Sleep. His employer, the wheelchair-using Count von Überwald, is based on the wheelchair-using General Sternwood in the same film.
• The line, "You know how to howl don't you, Lewton? You just pull your jaws apart and blow." is a reference to a line in To Have and Have Not, where Lauren Bacall says to Bogart, "You know how to whistle, don't you sweetheart? You just purse your lips together and blow."
• To Have and Have Not is referenced again when Carlotta asks Lewton who "she" was; "the one who gave you such a high opinion of women?" This is a verbatim quote by Bacall's character towards Bogart's in the film.
• The vampire pianist Samael is named after Sam, the pianist from Casablanca.
  Lewton: Play it again, Sam.
  Samael: You know what? No one's ever going to believe you said that.
  Despite being famously attributed to it, the line "Play it again, Sam." was never actually said in Casablanca.
• Ilsa Varberg is named after Ingrid Bergman's character Ilsa Lund from Casablanca. Lund and Varberg are also both cities in Sweden, Ingrid Bergman's home country.
• The encounter with Vimes and Nobby in Mundy's bedroom mirrors when the two detectives enter Sam Spade's apartment in The Maltese Falcon.
• Just before Lewton is killed, his line "I couldn't hear my footsteps. It was the walk of a dead man." is taken verbatim from the film-noir film Double Indemnity.