"A Patch of Blue" (1965)
Selina D'Arcey (Elizabeth Hartman) is an eighteen year old blind girl who lives with her prostitute mother (Shelley Winters) and alcoholic grandfather (Wallace Ford). Selina has never had an education or friends or any life at all other than tending to her mother and Ol' Pa. One day at a nearby park, Selina works on her beading and a caterpillar falls on her. Upon hearing her scream, the dashing Gordon Ralfe (Sidney Poitier) comes to her rescue.
A deep friendship based on mutual trust and compassion builds between Selina and Gordon. As time progresses Selina falls in love with Gordon. When Gordon receives a kiss from her he pulls himself away, feeling torn by his feelings of caring for her.
Rose-Ann's selfish plan to put her daughter to work as a prostitute fails when she attempts to take Selina away but Ol' Pa refuses to help. Although dysfunctional in his own way, he had a love for Selina and wanted her to have a better life.
This film is truly well told as it was based on the novel written by Elizabeth Kata called, Be Ready with Bells and Drums (1961). Winters won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in this film. Below are some behind the scenes shots that I thought were so neat!
Have you seen this film? What did you think of the performances? Do you feel as though there may be a happy ending in the horizon for both the lead characters?
xox
I've told you before that this is one of my all time favorites!!! I saw it for the first time only about a year ago and I couldn't stop thinking about it. I think there were happy endings for the two but I somehow feel that they either never saw each other again or lost touch after a while... I don't know why I feel that way. I felt that his smile at the end was saying "she's going to be okay..." or WE'RE going to be okay..." . That's what I loved about this movie! It didn't just give you the ending. It left you wondering what happened to the characters after the credits stopped! LOVE!!!
ReplyDeleteI agree! I love it too! Its one of my faves of his! I want to see more of his films. So far I have seen and know about 6 of them. I def need to see more-he is amazing! xox
DeleteThis was one of Sidney's first films that I saw as a child and I still remember how gripping many of the scenes were and how much I wished the movie would have kept going (or a sequel been made) so that we would know for sure if a happy ending truly did befall one or both of them. As a glass half full kind of person, I can't help but hope that such would have been the case.
ReplyDelete♥ Jessica
I feel the same Jessica! I wanted more too! I think seeing it a few more times and reading more about it, I can see now that they do possibly have a happy ending. That smile on his face kinda said it all, ya know? xox
DeleteThis is one of my favorite Sidney movies! I loved it and he did such a great job, of course he does in all of his films.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, I forgot about this movie! I saw this years ago and loved it! I remember watching this and "To Sir, With Love" back-to-back. Great movies!
ReplyDeleteJordan
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