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A Patch Of Blue
Studio: Warner Bros. (MGM title)
Year: 1965
Rated: NR
Film Length: 105 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 16X9 Enhanced Widescreen (2.35:1)
Subtitles: English, French and Spanish
I am so very pleased with the new crop of classic
titles coming out of the Warner Bros. vault. Over
the past week alone my eyes have been opened to
great classic films like Mildred Pierce and
Alice Adams. Amongst those titles sent to
me for review was A Patch Of Blue, a film
I had never previously heard about. As is always
the case, I asked our resident classic film "guru"
Robert Crawford what he knew about the film. I'll
close this review with his response as I think it
is most fitting to do so there. In the meantime,
I'll just say that this film came highly recommended
to me, and I am about to pass that recommendation
on to you.
Let me first begin this review by talking a little
about Sidney Poitier. He is an actor that I am
continually in awe of. Though he was not the first
black actor to appear in film or be nominated for
an Academy award, he was the first to break the color
barrier and win widespread acceptance in film by all
races. I admire the fact that he devoted most of
his career bringing controversial racial issues to
light. He portrayed characters unlike anything
Americans had seen before and his bittersweet roles
gave a sort of awakening to a mostly white industry
where he was readily accepted. Sidney Poitier easily
ranks amongst the most "legendary actors" of our time.
When considering Poitier's best film performances,
A Patch of Blue must rank somewhere at the
top of the list. It is arguably the finest
performance from this actor. It's a simple story
of Selina D'Arcy (Elizabeth Hartman), a blind,
abused, uneducated girl who falls unexpectedly
in love with a stranger named Gordon Ralfe
(Sidney Poitier), a compassionate black man who
befriends the girl and shows her the real world
outside of the one that her abusive and bigoted
guardians (Shelley Winters and Wallace Ford) have
shut her into.
Though the film won Shelley Winters her second
Oscar, the real stars of this film are Poitier
and Hartman. Their immensely radiating on-screen
chemistry effectively tells the story of an
interracial relationship between a young black
man and white blind woman, and the difficulty
they have sharing their souls knowing they could
never co-exist together in a racially motivated
society.
How is the transfer?
For the most part this film looks very good.
I would to leave it at just that, for I know how
bad the state of original film elements are at
the moment. Unfortunately, because people read
these reviews to find every intricate detail of
all that may be wrong with a particular transfer,
I am now going to have to nit pick.
To repeat myself, image quality is very good.
Images are well detailed and besides an opening
interior scene that seems a little dark, contrast
and brightness are fine. The only problem I saw
was the amount of white film speckle scattered
throughout the film, most predominantly seen about
8 minutes into the movie during the film's first
park scene. There's also small amounts of
background noise that show up in a number of scenes
making whites look somewhat dirty. Other than that,
this is a very pleasing transfer.
The mono Dolby Digital soundtrack is very clear
and detailed, giving a nice presence to Jerry
Goldsmith's light and cheerful piano score.
Special Features
A full-length commentary by writer and
Director Guy Green begins with a rather interesting
story of how his wife obtained the Elizabeth Katas
novel while trying to shelter herself from the
rain. After all, it was that story that inspired
the director to purchase the film rights and make
this film. Working with Shelley Winters was quite
an experience for Green. She never really understood
neither the dialogue or the part, but she was
gracious enough to trust the director to lead the
way. This is quite interesting to hear when you
realize Winters received a Best Supporting Oscar
for the role. Elzabeth Hartman took it upon
herself to study the blind, learning as much as
as she could to authenticate her role. Opaque
colored contacts were used to make her look the
part, and we learn that they really did make her
go slightly blind. Sidney Poitier was not completely
happy with the first draft of the script, and his
influenced helped change the film's ending. You'll
find out how as you listen here. Green talks fondly
about Hartman who really carried this film despite
the fact that she was so awfully shy. He also
ponders how her success and publicity might have
led to her taking her life a few years later. There
is a sort of calmness one feels while listening
to Green's elderly raspy voice talk about his
experiences making this film, his techniques, and
some of the stories that went on behind-the-scenes
with the cast.
Sidney Poitier - The Legacy Essay is an
interesting read for anyone unfamiliar with the
actor's body of work. This essay takes us through
his early films of the 50s and 60s that gave him
status as America's most popular and powerful
symbol of the Civil Rights Movement to his
more acclaimed roles of the mid and late 60s
and on through the 70s and 80s where he turned
to directing popular comedies.
A Stills Gallery runs on auto pilot here
so be careful how you advance through it. There
are many candid behind-the-scenes shots that include
rehearsals, production stills, critic reviews, Oscar
nomination announcements and poster artwork. Really
cool historical stuff here!
In addition to the film's original theatrical
trailer, we find a page dedicated to the
Awards the film received as well as a Cast
and Crew that gives you absolutely no access
to individual filmographies.
Final Thoughts
I don't expect most everyone to go out and buy
A Patch Of Blue, though I think anyone who
wishes to supplement their collection with the
finest classic film has to offer, should do so.
There are many ways to sum up how powerful, warm
and touching this film is, but perhaps I should
just let Robert Crawford's words speak for themselves...
"A Patch of Blue" is one of the best films made
in the 1960's. It's a film about people, relationships,
and tolerance of others. A powerful film when it
came out, but is underrated today.
I don't think I could have said it any better.
Release Date: February 4, 2003
All screen captures have been further compressed.
They are for illustrative purposes only and do not
represent actual picture quality
