Editing Blue Velvet (film) (section)

===Editing===
Lynch's original rough cut ran for approximately four hours.<ref name="Blue Velvet"/> He was contractually obligated to deliver a two-hour movie by De Laurentiis and cut many small subplots and character scenes.<ref>''Blue Velvet''; a two-part search for the film's deleted scenes at [https://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s87velvet1.html DVD Talk]. Retrieved July 24, 2007.</ref> He also made cuts at the request of the [[MPAA]]. For example, when Frank slaps Dorothy after the first rape scene, the audience was supposed to see Frank actually hitting her. Instead, the film cuts away to Jeffrey in the closet, wincing at what he has just seen. This cut was made to satisfy the MPAA's concerns about violence, though Lynch thought that the change made the scene more disturbing.

In 2011, Lynch announced that footage from the [[deleted scene]]s, long thought lost, had been discovered. The material was subsequently included on the [[Blu-ray]] Disc release of the film.<ref>{{cite web |title=Blue Velvet Blu-Ray To Include Newly Rediscovered Deleted Footage | date=January 24, 2011 | url=http://www.filmbuffonline.com/FBOLNewsreel/wordpress/2011/01/24/blue-velvet-blu-ray-to-include-deleted-scenes/ | access-date=January 24, 2011 | publisher= Film Buff Online}}</ref> Among the deleted footage was [[Megan Mullally]] as Jeffrey's college sweetheart Louise Wertham, whose entire role was cut from the theatrical release.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 28, 2019 |title=Megan Mullally Has "Zero Memory" Of Ever Kissing Kyle MacLachan In This |url=https://welcometotwinpeaks.com/actors/megan-mullally-kyle-maclachlan-blue-velvet-deleted-scene/ |access-date=June 27, 2023 |website=Welcome to Twin Peaks |language=en-US}}</ref> The final cut of the film runs at just over two hours.<ref name="BBFC" />