MOVIEmeter
SEE RANK
Down 190 this week

A Patch of Blue (1965)

 -  Drama | Romance  -  10 December 1965 (USA)
7.8
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 7.8/10 from 3,799 users  
Reviews: 63 user | 15 critic

A blind, uneducated white girl is befriended by a black man, who becomes determined to help her escape her impoverished and abusive home life.

Director:

Writers:

(novel),
Watch Trailer
0Check in
0Share...

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 629 titles created 29 May 2011
 
a list of 250 titles created 25 Apr 2011
 
a list of 2916 titles created 16 May 2011
 
a list of 150 titles created 5 months ago
 
a list of 4247 titles created 11 Jan 2012
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: A Patch of Blue (1965)

A Patch of Blue (1965) on IMDb 7.8/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of A Patch of Blue.
Won 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 14 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X  

A substantial insurance payment could mean either financial salvation or personal ruin for a poor black family.

Director: Daniel Petrie
Stars: Sidney Poitier, Claudia McNeil, Ruby Dee
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

Idealistic engineer-trainee and his experiences in teaching a group of rambunctious white high school students from the slums of London's East End.

Director: James Clavell
Stars: Sidney Poitier, Christian Roberts, Judy Geeson
All About Eve (1950)
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.4/10 X  

An ingenue insinuates herself in to the company of an established but aging stage actress and her circle of theater friends.

Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Stars: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X  

Disturbed Blanche DuBois moves in with her sister in New Orleans and is tormented by her brutish brother-in-law while her reality crumbles around her.

Director: Elia Kazan
Stars: Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.8/10 X  

Upon admittance to a mental institution, a brash rebel rallies the patients to take on the oppressive head nurse, a woman he views as more dictator than nurse.

Director: Milos Forman
Stars: Michael Berryman, Peter Brocco, Louise Fletcher
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X  

Brick, an alcoholic ex-football player, drinks his days away and resists the affections of his wife, Maggie. His reunion with his father, Big Daddy, who is dying of cancer, jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.

Director: Richard Brooks
Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.1/10 X  

A bitter aging couple with the help of alcohol, use a young couple to fuel anguish and emotional pain towards each other.

Director: Mike Nichols
Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal
East of Eden (1955)
Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X  

In the Salinas Valley, in and around World War I, Cal Trask feels he must compete against overwhelming odds with his brother Aron for the love of their father Adam. Cal is frustrated at ... See full summary »

Director: Elia Kazan
Stars: Julie Harris, James Dean, Raymond Massey
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X  

A naive male prostitute and his sickly friend struggle to survive on the streets of New York City.

Director: John Schlesinger
Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Sylvia Miles
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

The loons are back again on Golden Pond and so are Norman Thayer, a retired professor, and Ethel who have had a summer cottage there since early in their marriage. This summer their ... See full summary »

Director: Mark Rydell
Stars: Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Jane Fonda
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

The life and trials of a young African American woman.

Director: Steven Spielberg
Stars: Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, Margaret Avery
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X  

Encouraged by her idealistic if luckless father, a bright and imaginative young woman comes of age in a Brooklyn tenement during the early 1900s.

Director: Elia Kazan
Stars: Dorothy McGuire, Joan Blondell, James Dunn
Edit

Cast

Complete credited cast:
...
...
...
Wallace Ford ...
...
Elisabeth Fraser ...
...
Kelly Flynn ...
Debi Storm ...
Selina, Age 5
Renata Vanni ...
Mrs. Favaloro
Saverio LoMedico ...
Mr. Favaloro
Edit

Storyline

Accidentally blinded by her prostitute mother Rose-Ann at the age of five, Selena D'Arcy spends the next 13 years confined in the tiny Los Angeles apartment that they share with "Ole Pa", Selena's grandfather. One afternoon at the local park, Selena meets Gordon Ralfe, a thoughtful young office worker whose kind-hearted treatment of her results in her falling in love with him, unaware that he is black. They continue to meet in the park every afternoon and he teaches her how to get along in the city. But when the cruel, domineering Rose-Ann learns of their relationship, she forbids her to have anything more to do with him because he is black. Selena continues to meet Gordon despite Rose-Ann's fury, who is determined to end the relationship for good. Written by alfiehitchie

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Taglines:

A man...a girl...captives in their own worlds...finding escape in each other... See more »

Genres:

Drama | Romance

Certificate:

Approved | See all certifications »
Edit

Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

10 December 1965 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Cuando solo el corazón ve  »

Filming Locations:


Box Office

Budget:

$800,000 (estimated)
 »

Company Credits

Production Co:

 »
Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

(Westrex Recording System)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to director Guy Green, many girls auditioned for the role of Selina. However, as soon as Elizabeth Hartman walked into his office, he knew she was the one. See more »

Goofs

When Mark walks into the door of Gordon's apartment, he is shown closing the door behind him. When the shot cuts back to him, he's beginning the process of closing the door behind him again. See more »

Quotes

[On Selina's plans to go to the park]
Ole' Pa: Only one thing messin' up your idea S'lina, and it ain't fatso's supper.
Selina D'Arcy: What then?
Ole' Pa: Nobody'd bring ya home.
Selina D'Arcy: You could. I can wait.
Ole' Pa: Many a time I'm not on my way till good and dark.
Selina D'Arcy: Is that all? Dark's nothing to me. I'm always in the dark.
See more »

Connections

Featured in Century of Black Cinema (2003) See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
Color blind
26 January 2006 | by (New York) – See all my reviews

"A Patch of Blue" was perhaps the best film in which Elizabeth Hartman appeared. In fact, this was the movie in which the young actress made her movie debut. Guy Green, the director, took quite a chance when he entrusted Ms. Hartman to play such an important role. Unfortunately, her career didn't do much for her as it appears Hollywood forgot her and she was relegated to do television work. In fact, Ms. Hartman only made six full length movies, when she deserved to have been seen more.

The story of "A Patch of Blue" is about how blind we humans are. Yes, Selina is blind, but she sees people as they really are. This abused young woman is more intelligent than she is given credit for. She might not have the use of her eyesight, yet she recognizes kindness when it comes her way without making judgment on the only true friend she encounters in her life.

Gordon, the nice black man who stumbles upon Selina in the park, is amazed how no one has ever paid attention to her. Clearly, he sees the potential the young woman possesses and he is determined to help her in whatever way he can. Selina, on the other hand, couldn't care less what color Gordon is because she has seen beauty in the way he tries to give her the chance in life her own mother didn't bother to get.

Rose-Ann, the mother is only interested in her own needs. She is a sad woman who is saddled by a daughter that she sees as a burden, yet, she is the one that caused the blindness because of her careless actions. Rose-Ann is a prejudiced woman who judges Gordon too quickly without even investigating how he is trying to help Selina.

The film will not disappoint. Ms. Hartman did an excellent contribution to a film despite her inexperience. Sidney Poitier made a sympathetic Gordon real. Shelley Winters, who won the Oscar for this film doesn't have much to do, and even though she does good work, one has to be leery of those Academy members that voted her the best supporting actress of that year when she deserved accolades for many other excellent contributions to films she did before this one.

"A Patch of Blue" owes a great deal to its director, Guy Green, who fought to make the film and for having Elizabeth Hartman in it.


14 of 14 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
Any Scene Where You Cry janet-conant
Do Black People Like this Movie? blzoe
Release the colorized version on dvd! TVmovieViewer
Opinions on a remake KJohns2001-1
How did Selina go blind? akik926
Favorite... but one weak link... eddyskiva
Discuss A Patch of Blue (1965) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?