Lilies of the Field Movie Review 1963

Five former East German nuns, living on a small farm in the Southwest U.S., enlist the aid of a free-spirited Army veteran Homer Smith (Poitier) to build a chapel for them and teach them English. Poitier is excellent as the itinerant laborer, holding the saccharine to an acceptable level, bringing honesty and strength to his role. Actress Skala, as Mother Maria, had been struggling to make ends meet in a variety of day jobs until this opportunity. Poitier was the first African American man to win an Oscar, and the first African American nominated since Hattie MacDaniel in 1939. Followed by "Christmas Lilies of the Field" (1979).

Distribution

Ignatius Press, Distribution Center, PO Box 1339, Fort Collins, CO 80522-1339, Phone: (970)221-3920, Toll-free: 800-651-1531, Fax: (970)221-3964, Email: info@ignatiuspress.com, URL: http://www.ignatiuspress.com

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 94 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Nuns & Priests, Postwar, African America, Kindness of Strangers

Screenplay

James Poe

Cast

Sidney Poitier, Lilia Skala, Lisa Mann, Isa Crino, Stanley Adams, Francesca Jarvis, Pamela Branch, Dan Frazer, Ralph Nelson

Cinematography

Ernest Haller

Director

Ralph Nelson

Music

Jerry Goldsmith

Other

John McCafferty

Producer

U.A., Rainbow Productions

Awards

Oscars 1963: Actor (Poitier); Berlin Intl. Film Fest. 1963: Actor (Poitier); Golden Globes 1964: Actor--Drama (Poitier).