A Patch of Blue
Encyclopedia
A Patch of Blue is a 1965 American drama film directed by Guy Green about the relationship between a black 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 film theaters in the Southern United States
. 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. In the 1980s, Turner Entertainment Co.
colorized
the movie for broadcast on the Turner-owned cable station TNT. The colorized version was not released on VHS or DVD, and has not been broadcast since shortly after its initial broadcasts.
The film was adapted by Guy Green from the 1961 book Be Ready with Bells and Drums by the Australia
n author Elizabeth Kata
. The book later won a Writers Guild of America
award. The plot differs slightly from the film in that it has a less optimistic ending. In addition to the Best Supporting Actress win 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)
(George Davis
, Urie McCleary
, Henry Grace
, Charles S. Thompson
), Best Cinematography (Black-and-White)
and Best Music (Original Music Score).
) is an 18 year old blind girl living with her prostitute mother Rose-Ann (Shelley Winters
) and drunkard grandfather Ol' Pa (Wallace Ford
), in a tiny apartment of a large city. She strings beads during the day for a living, and spends her days cleaning the apartment, washing and ironing her mother's and grandfather's clothes, and preparing their supper. Her mother is abusive towards her while her grandfather is mostly ignorant of Selina's mother's behavior. Selina lives an under privileged life with no friends, education or a social life.
One day Ol' Pa takes Selina to a nearby park where she had been longing to go for a long time. After leaving her there, Selina sits under a tree and starts stringing beads, when a caterpillar drops inside her back. She cries for help, and Gordon Ralfe (Sidney Poitier
), an educated and soft-spoken black man working in night shifts in an office, stops by to help her remove the caterpillar and pick up her spilled beads. Selina quickly befriends him and they engage in a short conversation. During this, Selina asks Gordon whether she is ugly (as her mother often refers to her face as being "messed up"). Gordon learns that she was blinded at the age of 5 due to an accident when Rose-Ann had accidentally thrown chemical on her while attempting to hit her husband. Gordon immediately develops sympathy and compassion for Selina. At a department store he buys a pair of sunglasses to cover Selina's eye scars. He returns and gives her the glasses, which she happily accepts. Gordon feels even more sympathy for Selina when he offers her pineapple
juice and Selina fails to recognize what that 'wonderful drink' was. She also tells him that she has never attended school and has been taught very little. She has never heard of braille
.
On returning home, Rose-Ann confronts Selina for not preparing dinner on time and slaps her. She also confiscates her glasses and keeps them in a jar.
The next day Mr. Faber, for whom Selina strings the beads, comes to the apartment and helps find her glasses that Rose-Ann took away. He then takes her to the park where she again meets Gordon. Seeing that she has only a few crackers for lunch, Gordon takes her to a restaurant and buys her a corned beef sandwich, also teaching her how to navigate busy city sidewalks, tell directions by the sun, and to find the restroom in the park. During all this, Gordon receives stares from white people for being with a white young woman. Gordon tells Selina that his favorite word is 'Tolerant'.
On a Sunday afternoon Rose-Ann's friend and fellow prostitute Sadie (who dislikes Selina) comes to their house. During a conversation on getting old, she realizes that Selina is young and can be useful in their business. Meanwhile Selina is falling in love with Gordon and cries in the park when he is late showing up on Monday. Gordon gives her a lesson in how to shop for groceries, and brings her to his house. Gordon's brother Mark, who is there, objects to Gordon bringing a white girl home. Gordon explains that she is just a friend and needs help. Selina likes the music box that was given to Gordon by his grandmother Pearl. Selina tells him that she also had a friend named Pearl once, but that Rose-Ann forbade their friendship because she was black (unaware that Gordon is black too). She also tells Gordon that she knows what lovemaking is, as once she was raped by a man who was her mother's client. By this Gordon, presumably, comes to know that Selina's mother is a prostitute.
The next morning Rose-Ann urges Ol' Pa not to take Selina to the park, and he agrees. Disheartened, Selina tries to navigate along busy city sidewalks to the park all by herself, but fails and returns home. Meanwhile, a worried Gordon calls Mr. Faber to inquire whether Selina is sick, who, in turn, sends his son to Selina and delivers Gordon's message to meet the next day. The son offers to take Selina to the park the next day. On meeting Selina there, Gordon teaches her how to use a pay telephone (using operator assistance), and gives her his number. They also share a kiss but eventually Gordon backs out. Gordon suspects that things are not right for Selina, and determines to try and remove her from her home situation. Mark, on finding Selina at their house again, gets angry at Gordon and tells him his interracial relationship with Selina is wrong. Meanwhile Rose-Ann and Sadie decide to move to a new place, leaving Ol' Pa behind and taking Selina with them to force her into prostitution. Selina the next day finds herself abandoned at her usual place in the park during a thunderstorm, and panics until Gordon finally appears to lead her home. As they are walking home, Rose-Ann sees her with him in the park, and confronts her and tells her that Gordon is a black man. In their apartment, hearing Rose-Ann insult Gordon, Selina finally loses her temper and fights with Rose-Ann. Rose-Ann beats her, and Ol' Pa comes to her rescue but gets beaten too. The next morning Rose-Ann tells Selina that they are moving and will leave Ol' Pa behind, as Sadie and she have plans for her. Selina refuses and offers to stay behind and look after Ol' Pa. In the meantime, Gordon has contacted a blind school which is ready to take Selina. While Rose-Ann is away, Selina runs away and finally makes it to the park and meets Gordon. She tells Gordon about the plan, and he assures her that she doesn't have to worry and she will be leaving for a school in 2-3 days. However, Selina wants to be with Gordon rather than going to school. Finding Selina missing from the house, Rose-Ann takes Ol' Pa and goes to the park and confronts Gordon. Despite Rose-Ann's resistance, Gordon manages to take Selina away, and Ol' Pa stops Rose-Ann, telling her that Selina is not a kid anymore.
At Gordon's house, Selina asks Gordon to marry her, to which Gordon replies that there are many types of love, and she will later realize that their relationship won't work. On this Selina tells him that she loves him, and realizes that he is black, and that it doesn't bother her. He then tells her they will wait one year to find out if their love will in fact lead to marriage. Meanwhile the school bus arrives to pick up Selina. They say their goodbyes, but shortly after she walks out the door to the bus Gordon remembers she forgot the music box and races down the stairs after her. In an attempt to give it back to her, he sees he's too late and that the bus is driving away and whistfully tosses the box in the air, catching it with a smile that implies he will see her again.
. It gained Goldsmith his second Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score
following his score to Freud in 1962. It was also one of the 250 nominated scores for the American Film Institute
's top 25 American film scores
. The score has been released three times on CD; in 1991 through Mainstream Records
(with the score to David and Lisa
by Mark Lawrence, in 1992 through Tsunami Records (with his score to Patton
), and an extended version in 1997 through Intrada Records
.
Named Elizabeth," focuses on her status as an unknown actress from the middle America town of Youngstown
, Ohio
, and includes segments from her screen test
and associated "personality test
", in which the actress is filmed while being herself and answering questions about everyday topics such as her taste in clothing
. The short also shows her visiting the Braille Institute of America
to watch blind people being trained to do handwork — similar to the beadwork
her character does in the film — and to perform tasks of daily living and self-care, of the sort that Poitier's character teaches Selina to do.
Sidney Poitier
Sir Sidney Poitier, KBE is a Bahamian American actor, film director, author, and diplomat.In 1963, Poitier became the first black person to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field...
), and a blind white female teenager, Selina (Elizabeth Hartman
Elizabeth Hartman
Mary Elizabeth Hartman was an American actress, best known for her performance in the 1965 film A Patch of Blue, playing a blind girl named Selina D'Arcy, opposite Sidney Poitier, a role for which she won the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actress and was nominated for the Academy...
), 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
Shelley Winters
Shelley Winters was an American actress who appeared in dozens of films, as well as on stage and television; her career spanned over 50 years until her death in 2006...
won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
for her work in this film.
Scenes of Poitier and Hartman kissing were excised from the film when it was shown in film theaters in the Southern United States
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
. 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
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
, although color was available. In the 1980s, Turner Entertainment Co.
Turner Entertainment
Turner Entertainment Company, Inc. is an American media company founded by Ted Turner. Now owned by Time Warner, the company is largely responsible for overseeing its library for worldwide distribution Turner Entertainment Company, Inc. (commonly known as Turner Entertainment Co.) is an American...
colorized
Film colorization
Film colorization is any process that adds color to black-and-white, sepia or monochrome moving-picture images. It may be done as a special effect, or to modernize black-and-white films, or to restore color films...
the movie for broadcast on the Turner-owned cable station TNT. The colorized version was not released on VHS or DVD, and has not been broadcast since shortly after its initial broadcasts.
The film was adapted by Guy Green from the 1961 book Be Ready with Bells and Drums by the Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n author Elizabeth Kata
Elizabeth Kata
Elizabeth Katayama was an Australian writer under the pseudonym Elizabeth Kata, best known for Be Ready with Bells and Drums , which was made into the award-winning film A Patch of Blue ....
. The book later won a Writers Guild of America
Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers East of the Mississippi....
award. The plot differs slightly from the film in that it has a less optimistic ending. In addition to the Best Supporting Actress win for Winters, the film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
(Elizabeth Hartman), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Black-and-White)
Academy Award for Best Art Direction
The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
(George Davis
George Davis (art director)
-Career:Davis began his career at 20th Century Fox, his first film was Joseph L. Mankiewicz's fantasy The Ghost and Mrs. Muir in 1947, a director for whom he frequently worked, notably on House of Strangers , All About Eve -Career:Davis began his career at 20th Century Fox, his first film was...
, Urie McCleary
Urie McCleary
Urie McCleary was an American art director. He won two Academy Awards and was nominated for four more in the category Best Art Direction.He was born in Arkansas and died in Los Angeles, California....
, Henry Grace
Henry Grace
Henry Grace was an American set decorator. He won an Academy Award and was nominated for twelve more in the category Best Art Direction.As an actor he had a role as Dwight D...
, Charles S. Thompson
Charles S. Thompson
Charles S. Thompson was Hollywood set decorator, with nearly 200 films to his credit in a career that lasted 30 years. He cut his teeth on a string of B movies in the early 40s, before breaking into John Ford's inner circle of regulars. Amongst his credits for the director were Rio Grande and The...
), Best Cinematography (Black-and-White)
Academy Award for Best Cinematography
The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...
and Best Music (Original Music Score).
Plot
Selina D'Arcey (Elizabeth HartmanElizabeth Hartman
Mary Elizabeth Hartman was an American actress, best known for her performance in the 1965 film A Patch of Blue, playing a blind girl named Selina D'Arcy, opposite Sidney Poitier, a role for which she won the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actress and was nominated for the Academy...
) is an 18 year old blind girl living with her prostitute mother Rose-Ann (Shelley Winters
Shelley Winters
Shelley Winters was an American actress who appeared in dozens of films, as well as on stage and television; her career spanned over 50 years until her death in 2006...
) and drunkard grandfather Ol' Pa (Wallace Ford
Wallace Ford
Wallace Ford was an English film and television actor who, with his friendly appearance and stocky build later in life, appeared in a number of film westerns and B-movies....
), in a tiny apartment of a large city. She strings beads during the day for a living, and spends her days cleaning the apartment, washing and ironing her mother's and grandfather's clothes, and preparing their supper. Her mother is abusive towards her while her grandfather is mostly ignorant of Selina's mother's behavior. Selina lives an under privileged life with no friends, education or a social life.
One day Ol' Pa takes Selina to a nearby park where she had been longing to go for a long time. After leaving her there, Selina sits under a tree and starts stringing beads, when a caterpillar drops inside her back. She cries for help, and Gordon Ralfe (Sidney Poitier
Sidney Poitier
Sir Sidney Poitier, KBE is a Bahamian American actor, film director, author, and diplomat.In 1963, Poitier became the first black person to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field...
), an educated and soft-spoken black man working in night shifts in an office, stops by to help her remove the caterpillar and pick up her spilled beads. Selina quickly befriends him and they engage in a short conversation. During this, Selina asks Gordon whether she is ugly (as her mother often refers to her face as being "messed up"). Gordon learns that she was blinded at the age of 5 due to an accident when Rose-Ann had accidentally thrown chemical on her while attempting to hit her husband. Gordon immediately develops sympathy and compassion for Selina. At a department store he buys a pair of sunglasses to cover Selina's eye scars. He returns and gives her the glasses, which she happily accepts. Gordon feels even more sympathy for Selina when he offers her pineapple
Pineapple
Pineapple is the common name for a tropical plant and its edible fruit, which is actually a multiple fruit consisting of coalesced berries. It was given the name pineapple due to its resemblance to a pine cone. The pineapple is by far the most economically important plant in the Bromeliaceae...
juice and Selina fails to recognize what that 'wonderful drink' was. She also tells him that she has never attended school and has been taught very little. She has never heard of braille
Braille
The Braille system is a method that is widely used by blind people to read and write, and was the first digital form of writing.Braille was devised in 1825 by Louis Braille, a blind Frenchman. Each Braille character, or cell, is made up of six dot positions, arranged in a rectangle containing two...
.
On returning home, Rose-Ann confronts Selina for not preparing dinner on time and slaps her. She also confiscates her glasses and keeps them in a jar.
The next day Mr. Faber, for whom Selina strings the beads, comes to the apartment and helps find her glasses that Rose-Ann took away. He then takes her to the park where she again meets Gordon. Seeing that she has only a few crackers for lunch, Gordon takes her to a restaurant and buys her a corned beef sandwich, also teaching her how to navigate busy city sidewalks, tell directions by the sun, and to find the restroom in the park. During all this, Gordon receives stares from white people for being with a white young woman. Gordon tells Selina that his favorite word is 'Tolerant'.
On a Sunday afternoon Rose-Ann's friend and fellow prostitute Sadie (who dislikes Selina) comes to their house. During a conversation on getting old, she realizes that Selina is young and can be useful in their business. Meanwhile Selina is falling in love with Gordon and cries in the park when he is late showing up on Monday. Gordon gives her a lesson in how to shop for groceries, and brings her to his house. Gordon's brother Mark, who is there, objects to Gordon bringing a white girl home. Gordon explains that she is just a friend and needs help. Selina likes the music box that was given to Gordon by his grandmother Pearl. Selina tells him that she also had a friend named Pearl once, but that Rose-Ann forbade their friendship because she was black (unaware that Gordon is black too). She also tells Gordon that she knows what lovemaking is, as once she was raped by a man who was her mother's client. By this Gordon, presumably, comes to know that Selina's mother is a prostitute.
The next morning Rose-Ann urges Ol' Pa not to take Selina to the park, and he agrees. Disheartened, Selina tries to navigate along busy city sidewalks to the park all by herself, but fails and returns home. Meanwhile, a worried Gordon calls Mr. Faber to inquire whether Selina is sick, who, in turn, sends his son to Selina and delivers Gordon's message to meet the next day. The son offers to take Selina to the park the next day. On meeting Selina there, Gordon teaches her how to use a pay telephone (using operator assistance), and gives her his number. They also share a kiss but eventually Gordon backs out. Gordon suspects that things are not right for Selina, and determines to try and remove her from her home situation. Mark, on finding Selina at their house again, gets angry at Gordon and tells him his interracial relationship with Selina is wrong. Meanwhile Rose-Ann and Sadie decide to move to a new place, leaving Ol' Pa behind and taking Selina with them to force her into prostitution. Selina the next day finds herself abandoned at her usual place in the park during a thunderstorm, and panics until Gordon finally appears to lead her home. As they are walking home, Rose-Ann sees her with him in the park, and confronts her and tells her that Gordon is a black man. In their apartment, hearing Rose-Ann insult Gordon, Selina finally loses her temper and fights with Rose-Ann. Rose-Ann beats her, and Ol' Pa comes to her rescue but gets beaten too. The next morning Rose-Ann tells Selina that they are moving and will leave Ol' Pa behind, as Sadie and she have plans for her. Selina refuses and offers to stay behind and look after Ol' Pa. In the meantime, Gordon has contacted a blind school which is ready to take Selina. While Rose-Ann is away, Selina runs away and finally makes it to the park and meets Gordon. She tells Gordon about the plan, and he assures her that she doesn't have to worry and she will be leaving for a school in 2-3 days. However, Selina wants to be with Gordon rather than going to school. Finding Selina missing from the house, Rose-Ann takes Ol' Pa and goes to the park and confronts Gordon. Despite Rose-Ann's resistance, Gordon manages to take Selina away, and Ol' Pa stops Rose-Ann, telling her that Selina is not a kid anymore.
At Gordon's house, Selina asks Gordon to marry her, to which Gordon replies that there are many types of love, and she will later realize that their relationship won't work. On this Selina tells him that she loves him, and realizes that he is black, and that it doesn't bother her. He then tells her they will wait one year to find out if their love will in fact lead to marriage. Meanwhile the school bus arrives to pick up Selina. They say their goodbyes, but shortly after she walks out the door to the bus Gordon remembers she forgot the music box and races down the stairs after her. In an attempt to give it back to her, he sees he's too late and that the bus is driving away and whistfully tosses the box in the air, catching it with a smile that implies he will see her again.
Cast
- Sidney PoitierSidney PoitierSir Sidney Poitier, KBE is a Bahamian American actor, film director, author, and diplomat.In 1963, Poitier became the first black person to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field...
- Gordon Ralfe - Shelley WintersShelley WintersShelley Winters was an American actress who appeared in dozens of films, as well as on stage and television; her career spanned over 50 years until her death in 2006...
- Rose-ann D'Arcey - Elizabeth HartmanElizabeth HartmanMary Elizabeth Hartman was an American actress, best known for her performance in the 1965 film A Patch of Blue, playing a blind girl named Selina D'Arcy, opposite Sidney Poitier, a role for which she won the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actress and was nominated for the Academy...
- Selina D'Arcey - Wallace FordWallace FordWallace Ford was an English film and television actor who, with his friendly appearance and stocky build later in life, appeared in a number of film westerns and B-movies....
- Ol' Pa - Ivan DixonIvan DixonIvan Dixon was an American actor, director, and producer best known for his series role in the 1960s sitcom Hogan's Heroes, for his role in the 1967 telefilm The Final War of Olly Winter, and for directing hundreds of episodes of television series...
- Mark Ralfe - Elisabeth FraserElisabeth FraserElisabeth Fraser , was a television, film and stage actress, best known for playing brassy blondes.Born as Elisabeth Fraser Jonker in Brooklyn, New York, Fraser began her acting career six weeks after graduating high school; she was cast as the ingenue in the Broadway production of There Shall Be...
- Sadie - John QualenJohn QualenJohn Qualen was a Canadian-American character actor of Norwegian heritage who specialized in Scandinavian roles....
- Mr. Faber - Kelly Flynn - Yanek Faber
- Debi Storm - Selina, Age 5
- Renata Vanni - Mrs. Favaloro
- Saverio LoMedico - Mr. Favaloro
- Casey Merriman - Casey M
Soundtrack
The soundtrack to A Patch of Blue was composed and conducted by Jerry GoldsmithJerry Goldsmith
Jerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer and conductor most known for his work in film and television scoring....
. It gained Goldsmith his second Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score
Academy Award for Best Original Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
following his score to Freud in 1962. It was also one of the 250 nominated scores for the American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
's top 25 American film scores
AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores
Part of the AFI 100 Years… series, AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores is a list of the top 25 film scores in American cinema. The list was unveiled by the American Film Institute in 2005.-The List:-External links:**...
. The score has been released three times on CD; in 1991 through Mainstream Records
Mainstream Records
Mainstream Records was an American record label, which released jazz, rock music, and soundtracks during the 1970s.It was founded in 1964 by Bob Shad, and in its early history reissued material from Commodore Records and Time Records in addition to some new jazz material...
(with the score to David and Lisa
David and Lisa
David and Lisa is a small independent film directed by Frank Perry, often cited as one of his best works. Based on the novel by Theodore Isaac Rubin, the screenplay, written by Frank Perry's wife Eleanor, tells the story of a bright young man suffering from a severe case of obsessive-compulsive...
by Mark Lawrence, in 1992 through Tsunami Records (with his score to Patton
Patton (film)
Patton is a 1970 American biographical war film about U.S. General George S. Patton during World War II. It stars George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Michael Bates, and Karl Michael Vogler. It was directed by Franklin J. Schaffner from a script by Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H...
), and an extended version in 1997 through Intrada Records
Intrada Records
Intrada Records is an American record company based in Oakland, California. Intrada Records is an American record company based in Oakland, California. Intrada Records is an American record company based in Oakland, California...
.
"A Cinderella Named Elizabeth"
The film's creators also made a short about Hartman's selection to play the starring role. The short, called "A CinderellaCinderella
"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
Named Elizabeth," focuses on her status as an unknown actress from the middle America town of Youngstown
Youngstown, Ohio
Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Mahoning County; it also extends into Trumbull County. The municipality is situated on the Mahoning River, approximately southeast of Cleveland and northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, and includes segments from her screen test
Screen test
A screen test is a method of determining the suitability of an actor or actress for performing on film and/or in a particular role. The performer is generally given a scene, or selected lines and actions, and instructed to perform in front of a camera to see if they are suitable...
and associated "personality test
Personality test
-Overview:There are many different types of personality tests. The most common type, the self-report inventory, involves the administration of many questions, or "items", to test-takers who respond by rating the degree to which each item reflects their behavior...
", in which the actress is filmed while being herself and answering questions about everyday topics such as her taste in clothing
Fashion
Fashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...
. The short also shows her visiting the Braille Institute of America
Braille Institute of America
The Braille Institute of America is a non-profit organization based in Los Angeles providing services and coordinating events for the visually impaired. The organization produces over 5 million pages of Braille texts per year...
to watch blind people being trained to do handwork — similar to the beadwork
Beadwork
Beadwork is the art or craft of attaching beads to one another or to cloth, usually by the use of a needle and thread or soft, flexible wire. Most beadwork takes the form of jewelry or other personal adornment, but beads are also used in wall hangings and sculpture.Beadwork techniques are broadly...
her character does in the film — and to perform tasks of daily living and self-care, of the sort that Poitier's character teaches Selina to do.