Lilies of the Field (1963)

Lillies of the Field -- a timeless classic

This wonderful vintage movie has been part of my heritage "forever". Recently I encountered a person quite important to me who didn't realized that the "Amen" song, which has become a staple of celebration in the various communities of faith that I belong to, had been popularized by this film. Therefore I purchased the DVD to give it to him, and hope that it will become as enjoyable for him as it always was for me. December 24, 2008

My lilies have been mowed over...

I'll start this review much like I did with `Harry and Tonto', by being completely honest with you. I personally feel that Sidney Poitier is an extremely overrated actor. I find him rather stiff and when he does get into varying displays of emotion he feels forced in my opinion. I know that this a minority opinion here, but it is mine and I stand behind it firmly. He reminds me much of Nicolas Cage, very mannered and just the type of actor who does things from the book rather than from the heart. There is a difference, and that difference is that at least Cage has delivered two very Oscar worthy performances. Poitier was not so lucky.

With that said, if I were Poitier on Oscar night back in 1963 (Oscars would have been held in 1964, but whatever) I would have been ashamed to look out at the audience and see my competitors, Rex Harrison, Albert Finney, Paul Newman and especially Richard Harris and know that I robbed them of an Oscar with a performance that isn't even in the same league as theirs.

The film is also quite choppy and much undeserved of the Best Picture nomination it managed to rack up for itself. It is decent at best, but it never really takes off like it could have.

`Lilies of the Field' tells the story of Homer Smith, a traveling handy-man who gets hustled into building a chapel for a group of German nuns he stumbles across in his travels. The nuns are lead by the very bossy yet very genuine Mother Maria. She has survived the Nazis and has retained war wounds so-to-speak, but while her interactions with others may seem stern and unsociable she has a tinge of weakness in her voice that plays on her fragility. Homer is apposed to staying, wanting his days wages and then to be off but Mother Maria fights him every step of the way until he decides to stay and finish the job. By the films end both characters learn to let their pride rest and embrace the love of others.

The script isn't very deep, just riding on the surface of subject but never breaking into the type of character study this could have proved itself to be. It seems somewhat empty until the last few moments when some purpose is breathed into its lungs. Poitier tries to deliver here, but you can tell that he is trying and that kills a lot of the experience. The only performance I really found worthy of mention was that of Lilia Skala who played Mother Maria. She really got into the heart of this woman and managed to make her seem real to me.

`Lilies of the Field' is raved by many, considered a masterpiece and a landmark in film. It is a landmark in that it provided us with the first African American Best Actor Oscar winner, a feat not to be repeated until 2001 when Denzel Washington won for his performance in `Training Day' (and since both Jamie Foxx and Forrest Whitaker have taken home top honors), but aside from that there is nothing impressive about this movie (and Poitier's win was very undeserved and thus very unimpressive).

I know Oprah won't be happy with me for this, but it had to be said; sorry. December 16, 2008

One of my favourites.

What a wonderful actor is Sidney Poiter , he could play any part. The story of the building of that chapel was excellent and how he won the Nuns over , it is in my view one of the Noir classics and I am alover of those older movies, good heart felt actors an great story lines I could watch some of my collections over and over. I knew what the story was about before I bought it and when I saw it for sale I was very pleased . To anyone who thinks Sidney is a great actor will certainly enjoy this film . I also have Defiant Ones starring him and Tony Curtis (Excellent ) and Guess Who,s Coming to Dinner . Another winner for him Sidney , Spencer Tracey and Katharine Heburn > Buy them all! November 23, 2008

A Charming, Touching Movie

This is one of my favorite films of all time, and I think the whole cast does a wonderful job of carrying the movie. It is the story of a group of German speaking nuns who need a miracle in order to build a church in a poor, desert town. The miracle comes in the form of an itinerant jack of all trades played by Poitier, whose faith is a little shabby around the edges. There is a lot of humor as the Mother Superior resorts to a little manipulation in order to see the church completed. Both Scala's character and Poitier's learn that they both needed to rely more on faith, and less on their own power. This is a movie for the whole family I think. It does deal with some issues on prejudice, and Poitier's character gets drunk at one point, but the Mother Superior sees that he does not enjoy the latter experience much. As for the way it dealt with prejudice, I thought it was well done for the time. August 24, 2008

Not my favorite Poitier film

I think the point of this film is about faith. Everyone likes a good miracle movie. Right? Well, not quite. There was plenty of cringe worthy moments regarding race. Mr. Ashton calling Homer 'boy' and then telling the nuns that Smith was lazy and shiftless-but still wanted him to work for him. (Weird.) I hated the scenes where he was just shuffling to please them. And I didn't understand why Mother Maria simply couldn't say 'Thank You' especially when she was begging for everything. Out of all the good roles Poitier has played, they give him the Oscar for when he played a good field slave doing what he was told. Whatever. August 13, 2008

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