Lilies of the Field (1963) starring Sidney Poitier, Lilia Skala, Stanley Adams
At its core, Lilies of the Field is about resurrection and unexpected fulfillment. Coming together under the guidance of an unseen hand (“he build the chapel”) … Disparate people find more to life than what had seemed to be there before. The scene with the Priest at the end still gets me after seeing it more than a few times.
Cast of characters
- Sidney Poitier (A Patch of Blue) … Homer Smith. The central character. The itinerant handy man, who can’t stay. But he does, and first builds, then supervises the building of a chapel for …
- Lilia Skala (Caprice) … Mother Maria. The indomitable German nun. She’s going to build a chapel. Regardless of lack of funds, material, labor …. Outwardly hard, she’s an endearing character.
- Lisa Mann (Christmas Lilies of the Field) … Sister Gertrude
- Isa Crino (Night of the Lepus) … Sister Agnes
- Francesca Jarvis … Sister Albertine
- Pamela Branch … Sister Elizabeth
- Stanley Adams (The Errand Boy,Star Trek: The Original Series (The Trouble with Tribbles) … Juan
- Dan Frazer (Lord Love a Duck) … Father Murphy. The Catholic priest, in charge of a small congregation. He doesn’t initially share the sisters’ vision. But he learns!
Product Description
Mastered in HD! Nominated for 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture and winner of the Best Actor Oscar (Sidney Poitier, In the Heat of the Night). Homer Smith (Poitier), an itinerant handyman, is driving through the Arizona desert when he meets five impoverished nuns. Stopping to fix their leaky farmhouse roof, Homer discovers that not only will the Mother Superior not pay him for the job, but she also wants him to build their chapel – for free! Hesitant at fist, Homer soon finds himself single-handedly raising the chapel and the financing. But although he will not receive a monetary reward, Homer knows that when his work is done, he’ll leave that dusty desert town a much better place than when he found it. Ralph Nelson (Duel at Diablo) wonderfully directed this gem of a motion picture featuring stunning black-and-white cinematography by the great Ernest Haller (Gone with the Wind, Mildred Pierce).