Blue Velvet
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Blue Velvet

Year:
Duration:
120 min
Genres:
Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller
IMDB rate:
7.8
Director:
David Lynch
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar. Another 23 wins & 11 nominations
Details
Country: USA
Release Date: 1986-10-30
Filming Locations: 128 Northern Boulevard, Wilmington, North Carolina, USA
Earnings
Budget: $6,000,000
Opening Weekend: $789,409 (USA) (21 September 1986)
Gross: $7,200,346 (USA) (23 November 1987)
Cast
Actor
Character
Dean Stockwell
Dean Stockwell
Blue Velvet
Isabella Rossellini
Dorothy Vallens
Kyle MacLachlan
Jeffrey Beaumont
Dennis Hopper
Frank Booth
Laura Dern
Sandy Williams
Hope Lange
Mrs. Williams
George Dickerson
Detective Williams
Priscilla Pointer
Mrs. Beaumont
Frances Bay
Aunt Barbara
Jack Harvey
Mr. Beaumont
Ken Stovitz
Mike
Brad Dourif
Raymond
Jack Nance
Paul
J. Michael Hunter
Hunter
Dick Green
Don Vallens
Fred Pickler
Yellow Man
Philip Markert
Dr. Gynde
Leonard Watkins
Double Ed
Moses Gibson
Double Ed
Selden Smith
Nurse Cindy
Peter Carew
Coroner
Jon Jon Snipes
Little Donny
Angelo Badalamenti
Piano Player
Jean Pierre Viale
Master of Ceremonies
Donald Moore
Desk Sergeant
A. Michelle Depland
Party Girl
Michelle Sasser
Party Girl
Katie Reid
Party Girl
Sparky
The Dog
Robert J. Maxwell
Slow Club Customer (uncredited)
Did you know?
Trivia
The producers did not want to pay the rights for including the original recording of Bobby Vinton's song "Blue Velvet". So Angelo Badalamenti was brought in to record a new version that sounded exactly like the old one. After Badalamenti delivered, the filmmakers invited Vinton into a studio to re-record vocals for his famous song. It had to be arranged two and a half keys lower because of Bobby's changed vocal range. David Lynch heard the new recording, liked it, but thought that it would not work as well as the original version and finally convinced the producers to shell out the extra money for using it.
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In an interview, Dennis Hopper claimed that writer/director David Lynch would never say the word "fuck" during filming, he would simply point to the line in the script and say "that word". Hopper laughed, saying "He can write it, but he won't say it. He's a peculiar man." Lynch has said this isn't exactly true, but he didn't want to charge the atmosphere anymore than it already was.
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Meryl Streep didn't like the erotic tone of the film, and later claimed that the part of Dorothy Valens was written at Isabella Rossellini's request.
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Goofs
The 1907 apartment building shown on the movie has 6 floors, but in the movie Dorothy Vallens lives on the seventh floor in apartment number 710. This floor does not exist.
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During Ben's lip-syncing performance of Roy Orbison's "In Dreams", Frank abruptly ejects the cassette tape midway through the song. A short while later, he has Paul insert the tape in his car tape player. It immediately starts playing at the beginning of the same song without being rewound.
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Jeffrey's hands jump between the top of his head and his ear between shots when he is kneeling before Dorothy when she first discovers him in the closet.
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Quotes
Jeffrey Beaumont: I don't want to talk about it.
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Dorothy Vallens: I looked for you in my closet tonight.
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Frank Booth: Suave! Goddamn you're one suave fucker!
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Faq
Q
Is there a soundtrack available for the film?
A
The Blue Velvet soundtrack by Angelo Badalamenti is a dark combination of classic composition and vintage/modern pop songs, which mirrors the film's un-stated setting envisioned by David Lynch. Thus, the film has become noted for its diverse musical selections. Seen as a prominent stylistic feature in the film is the unconventional use of vintage pop songs, such as Bobby Vintons "Blue Velvet" and Roy Orbison's "In Dreams," juxtaposed with an orchestral score inspired largely by Shostakovich. The score makes direct quotations from Shostakovich's 15th Symphony, which Lynch had been listening to regularly while writing the screenplay.There are several 1950s-style pop songs that play a strong role in Blue Velvet and are invaluable in helping Lynch show the evil as a contrast against the music. These are by far the most important sound elements because they operate throughout the film. Besides the traditional dialogue and the aforementioned songs, the sound in Blue Velvet is primarily traditional instrumentation, consisting of strings and wind instruments. In the credit sequence, a mysterious, undulating string arrangement seem to foreshadow that the film will be a mystery. This alludes to the film's mysterious plot, futher alluded by the recurring snoop music played throughout the film, most notably while Jeffery plays detective while exploring the underworld."The Mysteries of Love" song is usually played during the love scenes between Jeffery and Sandy. "In Dreams" can be considered as Franks motto. The dichotomy between good and evil in Lumberton is almost like day and night, where evil, symbolized by Frank, is night.Lynch worked with well-known music composer Angelo Badalamenti for the first time in this film and asked him to write a score that had to be like Shostakovich: very Russian, the most beautiful thing, yet dark and a little bit scary. Badalamenti's success with Blue Velvet landed him a place as a contributor to all of Lynch's future feature films.The track listing is as follows, with the duration of each song/extract in brackets:1."Main Title" (1:27)2."Night Streets/Sandy and Jeffrey" (3:42)3."Frank" (3:34) "Jeffrey's Dark Side" (1:48)4. "Mysteries of Love" (2:10)5. "Frank Returns" (4:39)6. "Mysteries of Love" [instrumental] (4:41)7. "Blue Velvet/Blue Star" (3:14)8. "Lumberton U.S.A./Going Down to Lincoln" (2:13)9. "Akron Meets the Blues" (2:40)10. Bill Doggett - "Honky Tonk, Pt. 1" (3:09)11. Roy Orbison - "In Dreams" (2:48)12. Ketty Lester - "Love Letters" (2:36)13. Julee Cruise - "Mysteries of Love" (4:22)
Q
To whom did the severed ear belong?
A
It belonged to Dorothy's husband, who can be seen in the film's final moments when Jeffery walks into Dorothy's apartment to have one last confrontation with Frank Booth. Dorothy's husband is the man with blue velvet material stuck in his mouth, missing one of his ears, which Jeffery found earlier in the film.
Q
What is the song that Ben is lip syncing to Frank
A
In Dreams by Roy Orbison
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Photos from cast
Dean Stockwell
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