Lilies of the Field (1963)

just watch it!

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

A traveling handyman (Sidney Poitier) becomes the answer to the prayers of nuns who wish to build a chapel in the desert.The general idea of this film, a traveling handyman who helps nuns build a church despite not being Catholic, is alright. Not great, but alright. What really elevates it is the casting of Sidney Poitier. He could read a phone book and it would be an amazing performance. So although this is not his best-known film, it is still remembered today because of his presence.A sequel, "Christmas Lilies of the Field", was made in 1979 for television in which Homer Smith (now played by Billy Dee Williams), returns and is "convinced" to build a kindergarten for a group of orphans and runaways whom the sisters have taken in. Now, I don't know anything about this and suspect it is terrible. But Williams has been an under-appreciated actor, so maybe I should seek it out.

The type of triumph-of-the-human-spirit film that MGM made in the 30s but instead of Spencer Tracy and some delinquent boys, we have Sidney Poitier and some highly resourceful nuns. As a drifter with a heart of gold, Poitier's energetic performance dominates this film. He's somehow bullied by Mother Superior Lalia Skala into becoming a handyman for her tiny convent and then into building a chapel for the nuns. Poitier is great (he won the Oscar of course) and there's a fine supporting cast. In addition to Skala, there's Stanley Adams, Francesca Jarvis, and Dan Frazer (as an itinerant priest). Skala and Poitier engage in some feisty verbal sparring. The screenplay is by the great James Poe and the film is directed, efficiently, by Ralph Nelson.

I saw LotF when it was first released when I was just 11 years old and I loved it then. Over the past 50 years I've seen it about once every 10 years or so, including just now. Each time it seems to get better and better, the mark of a true classic film. The performances, the story, the production, all are first rate. Others have commented on the remarkable exchange, when Smith's boss calls him "Boy" and Smith handles it by tossing it right back at him. Interestingly enough, this exchange is mirrored later in the film when Smith angrily calls Mother Maria "Hitler." It was a careless remark on his part, but her pain was evident. But did she call her attorney and sue? No, she handled it exactly like he did, when he was being bossy on the chapel construction site, she threw the Hitler word right back at him - with a smile. Well done!A film for the ages, and for all ages (and faiths). See it again.

Beautiful movie with such clever overtones. There is an art about this movie you don't see anymore in the ham-fisted movies of today. Thoroughly enjoyable. Pointer and the Mother Superior actress turn in excellent performances for which Pointer won an Oscar. Well deserved, but I thought the Mother Superior actress deserved one too. The supporting roles of nuns, a restaurant owner and tired priest are very well done. Touches of humor are balanced with earnestness in the script. The story is simple: a group of 6 nuns has traveled to America to build a chapel in the barren West. They have little but a tract of land, a ruin, a "motherhouse" and faith, but it all works.