Shelley Winters won an Academy Award for her searing performance in A Patch of Blue . The star, however, is not Winters but Elizabeth Hartman , cast as Winters ' blind, sensitive daughter. A venomous prostitute, Winters treats both Hartman and grandfather Wallace Ford like dirt. Ford , aware that Winters was responsible for Hartman 's blindness, tries to find a way out of the destructive relationship. That way is provided by Sidney Poitier , who befriends Hartman and tries to open up doors for her previously closed by the selfish Winters . Despite the objections of the bigoted Winters and of Poitier 's brother Ivan Dixon , a bond stronger than physical love is forged between Poitier and Hartman . Brilliantly avoiding gooey sentiment throughout, A Patch of Blue was adapted for the screen by director Guy Green , from the novel Be Ready with Bells and Drums by Elizabeth Kata . — Hal Erickson