A Patch of Blue is a 1965 Academy Award winning film directed by Guy Green about the relationship between an African American man, Gordon (played by Sidney Poitier), and a blind white female teenager, Selina (Elizabeth Hartman), and the problems that plague their relationship when they fall in love in a racially divided America. Made in 1965 against the backdrop of the growing civil rights movement, the film explores racism from the perspective of "love is blind." Shelley Winters won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in this film.

Scenes of Poitier and Hartman kissing were excised from the film when it was shown in movie theaters in the South. 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 Green from the novel by Elizabeth Kata. In addition to the Best Supporting Actress nomination 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, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White and Best Music, Score - Substantially Original.

Accidentally blinded by her prostitute mother Rose-Ann (Oscar winner Shelley Winters) 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" (Wallace Ford), Selena's grandfather. One afternoon at the local park, Selena meets Gordon Ralfe (Sidney Poitier), 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

Adapted from the novel "Be Ready With Bells and Drums," by Australian author, Elizabeth Kata, A PATCH OF BLUE is the story of a chance encounter beneath a tree in a city park and the friendship that ensues. Accidentally blinded by her mother when she was five, Selina knows very little of the world beyond the dirty walls of her grandfather's tenement apartment. Enduring a life of servitude to her prostitute mother, Roseanne, and "Ole' Pa," her drunkard grandfather, Selina spends her days cleaning the apartment, washing and ironing her mother's and grandfather's clothes, and preparing their supper. Her only companionship is the radio until Mr. Faber (for whom she strings beads to bring in money) one day offers to take her to the park. "The sky's blue, ain't it?" she asks. "I remember blue." When she meets Gordon who becomes her only friend, the park is quickly transformed into the center of her universe. Knowing Gordon only as the kind and caring person that he is, Selina's feelings for him deepen. Only after Roseanne catches sight of Gordon escorting her daughter back to the apartment, one day, does Selina discover that Gordon is black. Her blindness has given Selina perspective which is sorely lacking in Roseanne and Ole Pa. To get her away from Gordon, Roseanne makes plans to move into an apartment with her friend Sadie. They will start their own "business" where Selina might provide yet another source of income. How will Selina escape the future that Roseanne has planned for her? Will she ever see Gordon again? The end of the story was changed in this film adaptation. Written by Mark Fleetwood