David Lynch‘s Blue Velvet — the movie that restored his reputation after the debacle of Dune — opened a little more than 30 years ago. True story: I did publicity for New Line Cinema in ’85 and ’86, and one of the films I focused on in particular was A Nightmare on Elm Street, Part 2. A colleague told me a story about calling Hope Lange, who had recently costarred in Nightmare 2 as well as Blue Velvet. He was calling about some print interviews he’d arranged for her to do, but as they began speaking he realized Lange was under the impression that he was working on Blue Velvet. When he explained otherwise, her gracious and inviting tone disappeared. “Oh, you’re calling about the other film,” Lange said.
