Popular reviews

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  Review by cassandra ★★★★½ 1

  Listen, any film made in the 60s dealing with race relations is going to have its problems but I haven't felt this enchanted by a film in a while hence the five star rating despite its issues. Sidney Poitier is so unbelievably charming and able to make your heart flutter in anything but especially in this and Elizabeth Hartman's performance as a blind woman is truly incredible. Their love story, although faulted, is beautiful and brought me so much joy.

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  Review by Sam Meltzer ★★★★ 2

  It’s surprising to me that stories with such sentimentality surrounding physical or mental disabilities were box office hits in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Nowadays they are almost entirely read off as complete award bait and rarely hold the charm and emotion that is required for a heartfelt viewing. This is why watching A Patch of Blue felt fresh and compelling. It isn’t necessarily because it was innovative or daring but because it’s so genuine with its storytelling and excels in its simplicity. Each character arc and plot point are relevant and feel constantly engaging, allowing the filmmakers and actors to possess such sincerity. This is just a sweet yet never overly artificial piece of classic entertainment. Plus, no one deserved that sweet Oscar gold more than Shelley Winters that year.

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  Review by sarah ★★★½ 3

  My apprehension about films that deal with race or disabilities is completely justified considering Hollywood’s history (and even current status), so A Patch of Blue—a film that explores both race and blindness— made me quite nervous to start. To my surprise, this film actually shows a great deal of sensitivity to both matters, and presents the love story so sincerely and convincingly that I couldn’t help but be utterly charmed. This doesn't completely erase the film's problems, but I still really admire its effort (and Sidney Poitier’s smile).

  3.6/5

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  Review by Zoë 🐝 ★★★★★ 6

  I watched this with my friends to celebrate Sidney Poitier's 94th birthday today and they got very stuck on the part where he buys a dozen oranges. From the grocery market scene on all I was hearing was "why did he buy 12 oranges but not have real coffee? What is his budget for oranges? 12 oranges is so expensive!" I have not known peace since this man bought all those damn oranges

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  Review by Josh Gillam ★★★★½ 4

  This touching, sensitive adaptation of Elizabeth Kata’s novel focuses on two outsiders in their own different ways, a white working class blind girl (Elizabeth Hartman) locked away from the outside world without any education and a black man (Sidney Poitier) facing limits of his own in an unsympathetic society. British writer/director Guy Green shows their growing connection with a great deal of restraint and warmth, letting this bond organically develop as the empathetic Gordon brings the vulnerable Selina out of her shell.

  This turned out to be Poitier’s highest grossing film, the star bringing the kind of deep kindness and grace here that made him such an icon. I absolutely love Gordon as a character, refreshingly not shown as some…

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  Review by MANAR ★★★★½ 6

  - You should know something about me.
  - I know everything I need to know about you. I love you. 

  Well, that was phenomenal!

  It’s been sooo long since I’ve watched a perfectly done film, that I wished it NEVER ends.

  I crave for those race dealing-with films in past centuries, especially when they get done so well, you dive into them, that you even forget they’re scripted or acted. 

  I only wished it was a bit longer to throw more light on Gordon’s life or his personality maybe.

  I’ve liked Sidney Poitier in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner 1967. And I've never thought he could be any lovelier, but he sure did as Gordon!

  Thank you Guy Green..
  You were marvelous.

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  Review by B E R T ★★★★★ 8

  A Patch of Blue is absolutely beautiful, a real gem, a great example of filmmaking excellence.

  
  Elizabeth Hartman is astounding, she was nominated for the Best Actress Oscar for her work and I can see why, she is so heartbreaking and touching, it’s even crazier to think it was her very first acting job, such an emotional performance. The same can be said for Sydney Poitier, first of all, he was a major stud in his day, his voice is like soft serve ice-cream, smooth and dreamy, secondly, his performance is the kind of performance you just never see these days, there’s so much kindness coming from him that actors of today just can’t produce.

  Shelley Winters, of course, is…

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  Review by JBird ★★★★½

  The movie "A Patch of Blue",
  Had different versions to view.
  Southern theaters missed,
  The main characters kiss,
  Apparently that was hard to push through.

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  Review by nora ★★★★

  sidney poitier is too good and too beautiful for this world, i am sobbing

  (9/10 from 1965)

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  Review by 🐱Andrew Chrzanowski🐱 ★★★★ 6

  ☆"Would you like a slug in the puss?"☆

  I, uh… does that mean, like, what I think it means? Ha, wild. No wonder she won the Oscar for this.

  Though the awards and notoriety in A Patch of Blue go to Shelley Winters, I'm watching this 1965 drama to contribute to Black History Month with another Sidney Poitier performance. I have a busy weekend full of screeners to watch for Film Independent, so tonight and tomorrow will be my last purposeful nods to the aforementioned month.

  Notable not just for that Oscar-winning supporting role for Winters -- the second of her career -- as an unhinged and violently racist mother, but also for a scene of interracial kiss so scandalous…

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  Review by munta ★★★★★

  Thank you for my lovely day gordon

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  Review by Elia05 ★★★★½ 8

  “Dark’s nothing to me. I’m always in the dark.”

  CW: racism, ableism, sexual assault

  We’re hardly two weeks into 2023, and yet I’ve already been treated to A Patch of Blue, one of the greatest surprises I’ve ever experienced as a movie watcher. While I’m certainly not immune to Sidney Poitier’s immense talents, and Shelley Winters’s amazing supporting roles, I was a bit afraid of watching someone in their debut performance playing the lead, especially for a role that requires the sensitivity of Selina. However, in the end, I was absolutely blown away.

  A Patch of Blue follows Selina, the girl who was made blind by her mother at age five when a bottle was thrown in her face. Now…