I recently did a deep dive about the film location of the Red Diamond City Motel in Twin Peaks – Fire Walk With Me. While researching and writing this article, I discovered a detail that may help identify where Teresa Banks was killed by Leland Palmer. Unlike other film location articles, this one is a work in progress. I figured I’d share in case someone has additional insight, photographs or details to confirm my thinking. Meanwhile, here’s what I’ve discovered so far.
The Mauve Zone shared this incredible behind-the-scenes photo of Ray Wise and Pamela Gidley on set at the Mt. Si Motel in North Bend, Washington. I love these production shots as they offer us a rare look into how my favorite David Lynch film was made.
According to the official shooting diary for Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me by Charlotte Fraisse on Dugpa.com, scenes at this location were shot on September 16, 1991:
On the “Red Diamond Motel” parking lot. David walks towards me, looking cheerful, rested and ready to go. For the first time, he kisses me. That’s nice it makes me feel a little bit as part of the family. He is in a great mood and full of humor, joking with everybody on the set.
CONSTRUCTED RAMP
At first, I assumed the behind-the-scene photo was captured between takes of Teresa Banks and Leland Palmer in Room 123. It could be, yet their outfits are not seen in the shot.
It is interesting to note that Teresa is wearing the same outfit as her “Fleshworld” photo. I’m thinking this photo may have been taken around the same time as her bedroom scene with Leland.
Teresa Banks is also sporting the same thigh-high stockings in this deleted scene from The Missing Pieces. More clues that the “Fleshworld” photo was shot around the same time.
Careful examination of the image shows a platform constructed just outside the entrance to Room 6 at the Mt. Si Motel.
In the theatrical release, we catch a glimpse of the exterior door to this room as Teresa watches Leland scurry away. We don’t see a platform, but there is a ledge that she would have stepped up to enter the room.
In The Missing Pieces, we see an extended version of this scene which includes Teresa entering the Ronette and Laura’s party room. You’ll notice that her body glides right through the door frame, meaning she most likely used the constructed platform to walk into the room. The other option would have been for her to step into the frame which would have looked odd.
So the behind-the-scenes photo could have been taken around the same time or after these shots were completed.
TREMOND TRAILER
While looking at this shot of the Red Diamond City Motel parking lot, it dawned on me. Maybe the trailer on the far right side of the screen was used as a location.
In this article, I examined the call sheet for November 1, 1991 which indicated several scenes shot at City Studios in Van Nuys, California. One scene called for “INT. TREMOND TRAILER – PULL OUT FROM TV TO SEE LELAND KILLING TERESA BANKS.”
Actors needed for that scene were 3) Leland Palmer (Ray Wise) and 16) Teresa Banks (Pamela Gidley). So clearly some scenes were shot on set, but maybe only inserts, like the television being smashed.
Pamela Gidley appears to be wearing the same pink waitress uniform and black wristwatch (she’s even checking the time).
Ray Wise appears to be sporting a black turtle neck in both images.
Maybe the trailer was the location where part of Teresa’s murder was shot.
MARLO, FORMER OWNER OF MT. SI MOTEL
Thanks to long-time Twin Peaks fan Jared Lyon, we have some additional details from Marlo Vistrand, former owner of the Mt. Si Motel who inherited the property from her parents around 1994.
The caption for the image above read: She was a very nice woman with photos from the filming of FWWM, plus some odd trivia about Teresa’s murder; it was filmed here and in the trailer.
The trailer.
One assumes she meant this trailer.
Property records for King County, Washington listed a “1975 FOURS 68/24 Double-Wide” trailer as an accessory on the property. It’s unclear when the trailer was removed.
It’s not the Chalfont Trailer from the Fat Trout Trailer Park, which was a 19-foot travel trailer by Boles Areo made in the 1960s.
Additionally, it would make no sense for Ray Wise and Pamela Gidley to be dressed in those costumes at the Mt. Si Motel if the interior scenes were filmed at the Fat Trout instead.
1996 VISIT TO MOTEL
I uploaded a short video to the Twin Peaks Blog YouTube channel of my first visit to the Mt. Si Motel on August 10, 1996. This was part of an unscheduled stop during the bus tour hosted by fellow Bookhouse Boy Travis Blue at the 1996 Twin Peaks Fan Fest. You’ll have to excuse my giddy (and annoying) delight at seeing this place in person.
Part of the video includes a brief interview with Marlo which is transcribed below:
“They did some but they didn’t use them in the movie. In the original script that they wrote that they filmed here, they were supposed to kill [Teresa Banks] in [Room] 6, instead of in the trailer. But they didn’t decide that until they were doing the final cuts and putting the movie out that they were going to go ahead and kill her in the train. [ed. note – it seems she could be referencing Laura Palmer’s murder versus Teresa Banks]. So they filmed scenes to that effect in [Room 6], but they couldn’t use them.”
Could this mean that additional scenes with Leland and Teresa were shot in Room 6 AND the trailer? Was Teresa’s “Fleshworld” photo shot inside the trailer? This is why this story is a work in progress.
One thing to note is by August 1996, that trailer seen in the theatrical release was gone from the parking lot. I wonder if the trailer was the home where Marlo’s father lived when he operated the motel. Once they passed, there was no need for the trailer.
SCRIPTED VERSUS THEATRICAL
The August 8, 1991 script offers no help decoding this scene as Teresa was killed near Wind River.
LELAND: FLASHBACK
_Nighttime_in_the_woods_. We see Leland crush Teresa Banks’ face and skull with a pipe until she is dead. We hear the gurgling of the Wind River behind her.
In the theatrical cut, we see Teresa Banks in a trailer sporting the pink waitress uniform and black wristwatch. Notice the rope tied around her ankles.
She screams as Leland rushes toward her, arm poised to hit.
To me, this looks like the inside of a trailer, especially with the pocket door to the bathroom. I have a difficult time believing the crew constructed this set at City Studios.
The scene is so short that it would make more sense to use a practical location versus a set.
Teresa is hit repeatedly with what appears to be a pipe. Look carefully and you can see how the pipe bends around Teresa’s head, mostly likely a soft prop (like the sponge remote that Candy uses to hit Rodney in Twin Peaks – Part 10 on Showtime.)
This would be similar to how they shot Teresa Banks’ trailer inside an actual trailer at the former Park Street Trailer Park in Snoqualmie.
THE MYSTERY CONTINUES
Now I’m beginning to feel a little like Special Agent Chet Desmond who was captivated by Teresa Banks’ beautiful eyes.
Based on my research and anecdotal remarks from Marlo, the former motel owner, it seems like additional scenes were shot at the trailer or inside Room 6 at the Mt. Si Motel.
Without seeing addition production notes (like call sheets, etc), it will be difficult to 100% confirm my suspicions. If you have any additional insight or knowledge about these scenes, please leave a comment below.
Thank you again to Jared Lyon and The Mauve Zone for the photos. Additional thank you to Marlo for sharing her stories with fans over the years.
