junefirst26 — 16 years ago(February 17, 2010 06:36 PM)

I remember seeing A Patch Of Blue when I was 12, and it struck me even then that this was a special film. It wasnt your John Wayne western or your Jack Lemmon commedy. Id remembered seeing Sidney P. from a few years earlier in Lillies of the Field, so I liked him very much, and was looking forward to seeing what he was going to do here, but the performance of Elizabeth Hartman went straight to my soul, and has stayed there all these years. There are few films that I think every young person should see, such as; The Grapes Of Wrath, Splender In The Grass, and To Kill A Mockingbird, but A Patch Of Blue, in my opinion, should be shown in all grade schools across America. Elizabeth was born to play this role, and prehaps should have won the Oscar for it. People decades, and well, even centuries from now, will be seeing Elizabeths sensative performance here. It also represents what our culture was going through at the time. If this film was made just a few years later like 68 or 69, it would have been a totally different film. In a way, in 1965, there was more innocence around in the arts, and in life, but by 67 68 and 69 that was gone. The DVD has a commentary by the director, which is informative. This little film should be preserved, and Id like to say thank you Elizabeth for giving so much of yourself in this film.