A Patch of Blue is a 1965 American drama film directed by Guy Green about the friendship between an educated black man (played by Sidney Poitier) and an illiterate, blind, white 18-year-old girl (played by Elizabeth Hartman), and the problems that plague their friendship in a racially divided America. Made in 1965 against the backdrop of the growing civil rights movement, the film explores racism while playing on the idea that "love is blind."
Scenes of Poitier and Hartman kissing were excised from the film when it was shown in film theaters in the Southern United States.[2] These scenes are intact in the DVD version. According to the DVD audio commentary, it was the decision of director Guy Green that A Patch of Blue be filmed in black and white although color was available.
The film was adapted by Guy Green from the 1961 book Be Ready with Bells and Drums by the Australian author Elizabeth Kata. The book later won a Writers Guild of America award. The book's plot has a slightly less optimistic ending than the film.
Selina D'Arcey is a blind white girl living in a city apartment with her crude and vulgar mother Rose-Ann, who works as a prostitute, and her grandfather Ole Pa. She strings beads to supplement her family's small income and spends most of her time doing chores. Her mother is abusive, and Ole Pa is an alcoholic. Selina has no friends, rarely leaves the apartment, and has never received an education.
Selina convinces her grandfather to take her to the park, where she happens to meet Gordon Ralfe, an educated and soft-spoken black man working night shifts in an office. The two quickly become friends, meeting at the park almost every day. Gordon learns that she was blinded at the age of five when Rose-Ann threw chemicals on her while attempting to hit her husband and that she was raped by one of Rose-Ann's "boyfriends."
Rose-Ann's friend Sadie is also a prostitute, and while lamenting the loss of her youth, she realizes that Selina can be useful in their business. Subsequently, Rose-Ann and Sadie decide to leave Ole Pa, move with Selina into a better apartment, and force her into prostitution.
In the meantime, Gordon has contacted a school for the blind, which is ready to take Selina. While Rose-Ann is out, Selina runs away to the park, and, with some difficulty, meets Gordon. She tells Gordon about Rose-Ann's plan, and he assures her that she will be leaving for school in a few days. Finding Selina missing from the apartment, Rose-Ann takes Ole Pa to the park and confronts Gordon. Despite Rose-Ann's resistance, Gordon manages to take Selina away when the crowd of white people looks at Rose-Ann's anger and hysterics towards Gordon with disdain and ignores her pleas to stop the Black man from walking away with her daughter. Ole Pa then stops Rose-Ann from chasing after them, telling her that Selina is not a child anymore.
At Gordon's house, Selina asks Gordon to marry her, to which Gordon replies that there are many types of love, and she later will realize that their relationship will not work. Selina tells him that she loves him, knows that he is Black, and his skin color doesn't matter to her. Gordon tells her she must meet more people and wait a year to find out if their love is more than friendship. Then, a bus arrives to pick up Selina for her trip to the school and both friends say goodbye. Gordon had given Selina a music box that belonged to his grandmother that she left behind in the apartment, so he runs after her to give it back but just misses the bus and walks back upstairs in to his apartment building.
The film's creators also made a short film about Hartman's selection to play the starring role. The short, titled A Cinderella Named Elizabeth, focuses on her status as an unknown actress from Youngstown, Ohio, and includes segments from her screen test and associated "personality test", in which the actress is filmed while being herself and answering questions about everyday topics such as her taste in clothing. The short also shows her visiting the Braille Institute of America to watch blind people being trained to do handwork — similar to the beadwork her character does in the film — and to perform tasks of daily living and self-care, of the sort that Poitier's character teaches Selina to do.
Reception
Critical reception
A Patch of Blue has a 89% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on nine reviews.
The film proved to be the most successful in Poitier's career, which proved a lucrative development considering he agreed to a salary cut in exchange for 10% of the film's gross earnings. In addition, the film made Poitier a major national film star with excellent business in even southern cities like Houston, Atlanta and Charlotte.[8]
patch, blue, 1965, american, drama, film, directed, green, about, friendship, between, educated, black, played, sidney, poitier, illiterate, blind, white, year, girl, played, elizabeth, hartman, problems, that, plague, their, friendship, racially, divided, ame. A Patch of Blue is a 1965 American drama film directed by Guy Green about the friendship between an educated black man played by Sidney Poitier and an illiterate blind white 18 year old girl played by Elizabeth Hartman and the problems that plague their friendship in a racially divided America Made in 1965 against the backdrop of the growing civil rights movement the film explores racism while playing on the idea that love is blind A Patch of BluePromotional movie poster for the filmDirected byGuy GreenScreenplay byGuy GreenBased onBe Ready with Bells and Drums1961 novelby Elizabeth KataProduced byGuy GreenPandro S BermanStarringSidney PoitierShelley WintersElizabeth HartmanCinematographyRobert BurksEdited byRita RolandMusic byJerry GoldsmithDistributed byMetro Goldwyn MayerRelease dateDecember 10 1965 1965 12 10 Running time105 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget 800 000Box office 6 750 000 rentals 1 Shelley Winters won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress her second win for the award following her victory in 1959 for The Diary of Anne Frank It was the final screen appearance for veteran actor Wallace Ford Scenes of Poitier and Hartman kissing were excised from the film when it was shown in film theaters in the Southern United States 2 These scenes are intact in the DVD version According to the DVD audio commentary it was the decision of director Guy Green that A Patch of Blue be filmed in black and white although color was available The film was adapted by Guy Green from the 1961 book Be Ready with Bells and Drums by the Australian author Elizabeth Kata The book later won a Writers Guild of America award The book s plot has a slightly less optimistic ending than the film In addition to the Best Supporting Actress win for Winters the film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role Elizabeth Hartman Best Art Direction Set Decoration Black and White George Davis Urie McCleary Henry Grace Charles S Thompson Best Cinematography Black and White and Best Music Original Music Score Hartman 22 at the time was the youngest Best Actress nominee a record she held for 10 years before 20 year old Isabelle Adjani broke her record in 1975 3 Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Soundtrack 4 A Cinderella Named Elizabeth 5 Reception 5 1 Critical reception 5 2 Awards and honors 5 3 Box office 6 See also 7 References 8 External linksPlot EditSelina D Arcey is a blind white girl living in a city apartment with her crude and vulgar mother Rose Ann who works as a prostitute and her grandfather Ole Pa She strings beads to supplement her family s small income and spends most of her time doing chores Her mother is abusive and Ole Pa is an alcoholic Selina has no friends rarely leaves the apartment and has never received an education Selina convinces her grandfather to take her to the park where she happens to meet Gordon Ralfe an educated and soft spoken black man working night shifts in an office The two quickly become friends meeting at the park almost every day Gordon learns that she was blinded at the age of five when Rose Ann threw chemicals on her while attempting to hit her husband and that she was raped by one of Rose Ann s boyfriends Rose Ann s friend Sadie is also a prostitute and while lamenting the loss of her youth she realizes that Selina can be useful in their business Subsequently Rose Ann and Sadie decide to leave Ole Pa move with Selina into a better apartment and force her into prostitution In the meantime Gordon has contacted a school for the blind which is ready to take Selina While Rose Ann is out Selina runs away to the park and with some difficulty meets Gordon She tells Gordon about Rose Ann s plan and he assures her that she will be leaving for school in a few days Finding Selina missing from the apartment Rose Ann takes Ole Pa to the park and confronts Gordon Despite Rose Ann s resistance Gordon manages to take Selina away when the crowd of white people looks at Rose Ann s anger and hysterics towards Gordon with disdain and ignores her pleas to stop the Black man from walking away with her daughter Ole Pa then stops Rose Ann from chasing after them telling her that Selina is not a child anymore At Gordon s house Selina asks Gordon to marry her to which Gordon replies that there are many types of love and she later will realize that their relationship will not work Selina tells him that she loves him knows that he is Black and his skin color doesn t matter to her Gordon tells her she must meet more people and wait a year to find out if their love is more than friendship Then a bus arrives to pick up Selina for her trip to the school and both friends say goodbye Gordon had given Selina a music box that belonged to his grandmother that she left behind in the apartment so he runs after her to give it back but just misses the bus and walks back upstairs in to his apartment building Cast EditSidney Poitier as Gordon Ralfe Shelley Winters as Rose Ann D Arcey Elizabeth Hartman as Selina D Arcey Debi Storm as Selina D Arcey Age 5 Wallace Ford as Ole Pa Ivan Dixon as Mark Ralfe Elisabeth Fraser as Sadie John Qualen as Mr Faber Kelly Flynn as Yanek Faber Renata Vanni as Mrs Favaloro Saverio LoMedico as Mr Favaloro Casey Merriman as Casey M Soundtrack EditThe soundtrack to A Patch of Blue was composed and conducted by Jerry Goldsmith It gained Goldsmith his second Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score following his score to Freud in 1962 It was one of the 250 nominated scores for the American Film Institute s top 25 American film scores 4 The score has been released three times on CD in 1991 through Mainstream Records with the score to David and Lisa by Mark Lawrence in 1992 through Tsunami Records with his score to Patton and an extended version in 1997 through Intrada Records 5 A Cinderella Named Elizabeth EditThe film s creators also made a short film about Hartman s selection to play the starring role The short titled A Cinderella Named Elizabeth focuses on her status as an unknown actress from Youngstown Ohio and includes segments from her screen test and associated personality test in which the actress is filmed while being herself and answering questions about everyday topics such as her taste in clothing The short also shows her visiting the Braille Institute of America to watch blind people being trained to do handwork similar to the beadwork her character does in the film and to perform tasks of daily living and self care of the sort that Poitier s character teaches Selina to do Reception EditCritical reception Edit A Patch of Blue has a 89 approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on nine reviews Awards and honors Edit Award Category Nominee s ResultAcademy Awards Best Actress Elizabeth Hartman NominatedBest Supporting Actress Shelley Winters WonBest Art Direction Black and White George Davis Urie McCleary Henry Grace and Charles S Thompson NominatedBest Cinematography Black and White Robert Burks NominatedBest Music Score Substantially Original Jerry Goldsmith NominatedBritish Academy Film Awards Best Foreign Actor Sidney Poitier NominatedGolden Globe Awards Best Motion Picture Drama Pandro S Berman and Guy Green NominatedBest Actor in a Motion Picture Drama Sidney Poitier NominatedBest Actress in a Motion Picture Drama Elizabeth Hartman NominatedBest Director Motion Picture Guy Green NominatedBest Screenplay Motion Picture NominatedNew Star of the Year Actress Elizabeth Hartman WonKansas City Film Critics Circle Awards Best Supporting Actress Shelley Winters WonLaurel Awards Top Drama NominatedTop Male Dramatic Performance Sidney Poitier WonTop Female Dramatic Performance Elizabeth Hartman NominatedTop Male Supporting Performance Wallace Ford NominatedTop Female Supporting Performance Shelley Winters WonWriters Guild of America Awards Best Written American Drama Guy Green NominatedThe film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists 2002 AFI s 100 Years 100 Passions Nominated 6 2005 AFI s 100 Years of Film Scores Nominated 7 Box office Edit The film proved to be the most successful in Poitier s career which proved a lucrative development considering he agreed to a salary cut in exchange for 10 of the film s gross earnings In addition the film made Poitier a major national film star with excellent business in even southern cities like Houston Atlanta and Charlotte 8 See also EditCivil rights movement in popular culture List of American films of 1965References Edit Big Rental Pictures of 1966 Variety 4 January 1967 p 8 Canby Vincent 5 April 1966 A Patch of Blue Draws in South The New York Times p 42 NY Times A Patch of Blue Movies amp TV Dept The New York Times 2012 Archived from the original on 2012 10 18 Retrieved 2008 12 26 AFI s 100 Years Of Film Scores Archived 2011 07 16 at the Wayback Machine at AFI com Clemmensen Christian A Patch of Blue soundtrack review at Filmtracks com Retrieved 2011 04 14 AFI s 100 Years 100 Passions Nominees PDF Retrieved 2016 08 19 AFI s 100 Years of Film Scores Nominees PDF Retrieved 2016 08 19 Harris 2008 Pictures Penguin Press HC The pp 159 ISBN 9781594201523 External links EditA Patch of Blue at the American Film Institute Catalog A Patch of Blue at IMDb A Patch of Blue at the TCM Movie Database A Patch of Blue at AllMovie A Patch of Blue at Rotten Tomatoes Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title A Patch of Blue amp oldid 1123382159, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
