The new Apple TV Plus LA-set detective show Sugar is filled to the brim with reference to classic noir movies (and some non-noir ones too!) and so you might be wondering what some of them are referring to.
Mostly, these references point to the kinds of movies and stories that inspired Sugar and the way that the story is told. The titular hero is just as enamored with this classic movie movement as the show's creators clearly were.
So if you're wondering what movie a certain prop is from, or what movie is playing on the TV in certain scenes, we'll help you figure it out now.
We’ve been expanding and updating this list every time a new episode dropped, but the entirety of Sugar is streaming now, so it covers every reference made in the show.
What kind of car does Sugar drive?
In Sugar, the titular hero is clearly very proud of his wheels, and he should be. Sugar drives a Chevrolet Corvette, in a baby blue hue, a vehicle first produced back in 1953. Of course, Sugar's version is vintage (or "a relic" as one character puts it).
The use of a Chevrolet Corvette like this is a reference to a certain older movie, which Sugar makes clear by showing us a snippet from the movie as Sugar drives. This movie is 1955's Kiss Me Deadly, in which the detective Mike Hammer drives such a car. Perhaps Sugar sees an affinity with the gun-less Hammer in this movie, due to our next point...
What kind of gun does Sugar use?
In Sugar, it's made abundantly clear to us that that our hero doesn't like to carry a gun, and prefers to do his job without one. When he's gifted a firearm by his handler Ruby, he quickly puts it in his hotel room safe out of reach.
This gun is another classic movie prop, though, as explained by Ruby when she gives it to Sugar. It's the exact same weapon (not a replica, the exact same piece of kit) as Glenn Ford used in 1953's The Big Heat when he plays detective Dave Bannion. Ruby has had a firearms expert restore it to working order.
Is The Winds of Change a real movie?
In Sugar's fourth episode, the detective visits the Siegel family during a retrospective screening of one of Jonathan Siegel's original movies, The Winds of Change.
The movie stars Lorraine Everly, who later became Jonathan's wife, and a poster tells us that Walter Lennon was her co-star. But can you watch Winds of Change?
Unfortunately you can't: The Winds of Change isn't actually a real movie, and Lorraine Everly and Walter Lennon aren't real people. They were created for the story of Sugar as a send-up of the kinds of classic movies that John Sugar likes, and the footage shown from the movie was shot just for Sugar. Sorry!
What movie did Sugar's dog watch?
In Sugar episode 3, when the detective goes to his polyglot party, he leaves his dog watching a classic movie on his TV. But what is this movie?
Film noir fans will recognize it as being one of the most famous entries in the genre of all time: it's 1944's Double Indemnity, but let's hope that the plot doesn't give the dog any ideas.
What movie does Sugar talk about to his doctor?
When Sugar finally visits his doctor in episode 4, he recounts a specific scene from a movie in which a doctor's trip goes wrong.
In a rare example for the Sugar TV show, this isn't a film noir reference at all; he's talking about John Carpenter's The Thing from 1982. This is a surprising reference since it breaks the trend of what Sugar normally talks about, showing that he's a general film buff and not one who sticks to detective stories.
Which movie character does Bernie compare Jonathan to?
In Sugar's fifth episode, the titular detective is asked by Bernie whether he's seen Being There, and then proceeds to compare one of the characters to his ailing father Jonathan.
This character is Ben Rand, though Bernie refers to him by the actors' name, Melvyn Douglas.
Being There is the 1979 story of an unwitting and simple gardener for a wealthy old man who finds himself stumbling upwards in life when his old employer dies. In it Ben Rand is the patriarch of a family who takes this gardener, Chance (played by Peter Sellers) in.
Through Being There, Ben Rand is unwell, always getting nearer to dying from a blood disease. While Jonathan Siegel is only bedbound due to a heart attack, Bernie could be implying that this patriarch's days are numbered.
What movie convinces Sugar to leave his gun in episode 6?
During the first minutes of Sugar's sixth episode, the detective considers bringing his gun with him. However while he's considering it, we're seeing clips of a movie in which a man talks on love versus war, and Sugar seems to agree with the thoughts preferring peace, so leaves behind the gun.
But who is this figure? Well, that's Robert Mitchum giving a speech as his character Harry Powell in the movie The Night of the Hunter, a 1953 film noir that also stars Shelley Winters. It's streaming on Freevee, Prime Video, Tubi and Hoopla in the US but no-where in the UK.
What movie is Melanie watching as she waits for Sugar in episode 8?
In episode 8, as Melanie waits for Sugar to return, she’s watching a movie on the most weirdly-placed TV in the world. But what movie is it?
This is Vertigo, a classic Hitchcock movie, which is recognisable for James Stewart being in the clip (and describing his character’s name). Is the choice of movie relevant to Sugar’s current mindset? Most definitely!
Have I seen this cast in film noir before?
If you're a big movie buff, you might realize that some of these actors have been in noir movies before. Not classic noir, as none of them are old enough to have been starring in movies in the 40s, but in some popular neo-noir or revisionist noir titles.
Amy Ryan, who plays Melanie, has recently seen acclaim for her role in investigative crime comedy Only Murders in the Building. While calling this a noir could be a stretch, it definitely takes lots of inspiration from this classic genre of movies.
But the real noir veteran is James Cromwell, who plays the Jonathan Siegel that gives Sugar his case. Cromwell has been in plenty of neo-noir or noir-inspired movies including 1997 Oscar-magnet LA Confidential as well as A Slight Case of Murder and The Cheap Detective.
