Lilies of the Field
original film poster
Directed by	Ralph Nelson
Produced by	Ralph Nelson
Written by	James Poe
Starring	Sidney Poitier Lilia Skala
Music by	Jerry Goldsmith
Cinematography	Ernest Haller
Editing by	John McCafferty
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date(s)	1963
Running time	94 min.
IMDb profile

Lilies of the Field is a 1962 book by William E. Barrett, which was made into a 1963 film. Both book and film tell the story of a Black-American itinerant worker who encounters a group of East German nuns who feel he has been sent to them, by God, to help them build a new church. Image File history File links 266361. ... Ralph Nelson (August 12, 1916 - December 21, 1987) was an American movie and television director, producer, writer, and actor. ... Ralph Nelson (August 12, 1916 - December 21, 1987) was an American movie and television director, producer, writer, and actor. ... Sir Sidney Poitier KBE, (IPA pronunciation: ) (born February 20, 1927), is a Bahamian American Academy Award-winning actor (film and stage), film director, and activist. ... Lilia Skala (28 November 1896 - 18 December 1994) was an actress born in Vienna, Austria. ... Jerrald King Goldsmith (February 10, 1929 – July 21, 2004) was a famous American film score composer from Los Angeles, California. ... Ernest Haller, also credited as Ernie B. Haller, (31 May 1896-21 October 1970), was an American cinematographer. ... The current United Artists logo (a variant was used during the 1980s). ... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar). ... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ... African Americans, also known as Afro-Americans or black Americans, are an ethnic group in the United States of America whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Sub-Saharan and West Africa. ... For the historical eastern German provinces, see Historical Eastern Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR), German Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR), was a Communist Party-led state that existed from 1949 to 1990 in the former Soviet occupation zone of Germany. ... Nun in cloister, 1930; photograph by Doris Ulmann A nun is a woman who has taken special vows committing her to a religious life. ...

The film stars Sidney Poitier, Lilia Skala, Lisa Mann, Isa Crino, Francesca Jarvis, Pamela Branch, Stanley Adams and Dan Frazer. The movie was adapted by James Poe from the novel. It was produced and directed by Ralph Nelson. The title comes from Matthew 6:28, in the New Testament. Sir Sidney Poitier KBE, (IPA pronunciation: ) (born February 20, 1927), is a Bahamian American Academy Award-winning actor (film and stage), film director, and activist. ... Lilia Skala (28 November 1896 - 18 December 1994) was an actress born in Vienna, Austria. ... Stanley Adams as Cyrano Jones Stanley Adams (April 7, 1915 - April 27, 1977) was an American actor and filmwriter. ... Ralph Nelson (August 12, 1916 - December 21, 1987) was an American movie and television director, producer, writer, and actor. ... John 21:1 Jesus Appears to His Disciples--Alessandro Mantovani: the Vatican, Rome. ...

The film won the Academy Award for Best Actor (Sidney Poitier). The win for Poitier was the first time a Black-American actor won an Academy Award for Best Actor. The film was also nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Lilia Skala), Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, Best Picture and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium. The Academy Award for Best Actor is one of the awards given to male actors working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. ... African Americans, also known as Afro-Americans or black Americans, are an ethnic group in the United States of America whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Sub-Saharan and West Africa. ... The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor is one of the awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. ... The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is awarded each year to a cinematographer for his work in one particular motion picture. ... // The Academy Award for Best Motion Picture is one of the Academy Awards, awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which are voted on by others within the industry. ... The Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay is one of the Academy Awards, the most prominent film awards in the United States. ...

Plot

Homer Smith is an itinerant handyman/jack-of-all trades who stops at a farm in the Arizona desert to replenish his water supply. He is persuaded to do a small roofing repair and stays overnight, believing that he will be paid in the morning. A typical North American grain farm with farmstead in Ontario, Canada A farm is the basic unit in agriculture. ... Official language(s) English Capital Phoenix Largest city Phoenix Area  Ranked 6th  - Total 113,998 sq mi (295,254 km²)  - Width 310 miles (500 km)  - Length 400 miles (645 km)  - % water 0. ...

In fact, the nuns have no money and subsist only by living off the land (what vegetables the arid climate will provide and some milk and eggs). Even after being stalled/stonewalled when asking for payment, and after being persuaded to stay for a meal, Smith, against his better judgement, agrees to stay another day to help them with other small jobs, always with the faint hope that Mother Maria Marthe, the head nun, however called "Mother Maria" in the film, will settle with him.

As Smith's strength and many construction skills, and tools, are revealed to the small order of nuns as he finishes the repairs needed, they come to believe that he has been sent by God to help them in their dream of building a chapel for the nearby townsfolk. In general, a nun is a female ascetic who chooses to voluntarily leave the world and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent. ... A chapel is a private church, usually small and often attached to a larger institution such as a college, a hospital, a palace, or a prison. ...

Soon, the weekend is upon them and Smith offers to give the nuns a ride to Sunday service so they do not have to make the long trip on foot as they usually are required to do. He is invited to attend the Catholic service but he declines because he is a Baptist. Instead, he takes the opportunity to get proper breakfast fare from the service station/cafe/store adjacent to where the religious service is held. In talking to the proprietor, Juan (Stanley Adams), Smith learns about the hardships that the nuns, led by the unyielding Mother Maria, (Lilia Skala) overcame in order to emigrate from Eastern Europe -- over the Berlin Wall -- only to barely scratch out a meager living on the farm which was willed to their order. Baptist is a term describing a tradition within Christianity that may also refer to individuals belonging to a Baptist church or a Baptist denomination. ... Stanley Adams as Cyrano Jones Stanley Adams (April 7, 1915 - April 27, 1977) was an American actor and filmwriter. ... Lilia Skala (28 November 1896 - 18 December 1994) was an actress born in Vienna, Austria. ... East German construction workers building the Berlin Wall, 20 November 1961. ...

Despite the unlikelihood of his ever getting paid for his work and partly out of respect for all the order has overcome, Smith stays longer and finds himself driven to work further on at least clearing the construction site for the chapel. He rationalizes that it would be too hard for the women of the order to move the heavy beams and so he is willing to do at least this much for them.

At one point, after losing a Bible quoting duel with Mother Maria where he attempted to prove the point that she should settle with him, he confesses that he had always wanted to be an architect, but couldn't afford the schooling, and this impels him to finally agree to undertake the job of building them a chapel. Architect at his drawing board, 1893 An Architect is a person who is involved in the planning, designing and oversight of a buildings construction. ...

To earn money to buy some "real food" to supplement the spartan diet the nuns are able to provide him, Smith gets a part-time job with the nearby construction contractor, Mr. Ashton, who is impressed that Smith can handle nearly every manner of heavy equipment he owns.

To pass the evenings, Smith teaches the nuns some basic English and even joins them in singing. They share their different musical traditions with one another -- their Catholic chants and his Southern Baptist hymns. At one point he sings the song "Amen" by Jester Hairston, which was dubbed by Hairston. The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a United States-based cooperative ministry agency serving Baptist churches around the world. ... Jester Hairston (July 9, 1901 - January 18, 2000) was an American composer, songwriter, arranger, choral conductor, and actor. ...

Smith, determined that the building will be constructed to the highest standards, insists that work be done by him and only him. As word spreads about the endeavor, locals begin to show up to give materials and to help in construction, but Smith rebuffs all offers of assistance in the labor. After a long interval of Smith gaining a larger and larger audience for his efforts, the locals, impressed with his determination, but no less dogged than he, will content themselves no longer with just watching but find minuscule ways to lend a hand which cannot be easily turned down - the lifting of a bucket or brick to an elevated Smith, for example. pascal's wager. Once the camel's nose is in the tent, they end up doing as they intended and as Smith tried in vain to resist -- assisting in every aspect of the construction in addition to just contributing materials. This greatly accelerates the progress, much to the delight of everyone but Smith. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Even Ashton who had long ignored Mother Maria's pleas, finds an excuse to deliver some more materials, and almost overnight, Smith finds that he's become a building foreman and contractor. Enduring the hassles of coordinating the work of so many, the constant disputes with Mother Maria, and the trial of getting enough materials for the building, Smith brings the chapel, finally, to completion.

The evening before the Sunday when the chapel is to be dedicated arrives. All the work has been done and Smith is exhausted. Against her will, as part of a sentence Smith uses to help teach Mother Maria more English, she thanks Smith. Up until that moment, it had been her practice to thank only God for the work, assistance and gifts that Smith had provided to the nuns. It is a touching moment between two strong personalities.

Later, as the nuns sing their nightly hymns, and after taking one last look at the chapel he built, Smith, knowing that his work is done, slips out of the house and drives quietly off into the night.

In the book version of the story, it is related how Homer Smith and what he did became mythologized into something miraculous by the townsfolk, and the stained glass window which the nuns place behind the altar of the chapel is of a saint who bears a striking physical resemblance to Homer Smith.

A sequel called Christmas Lilies of the Field was made in 1979 for television. For the Smashing Pumpkins song, see 1979 (song). ...

Trivia

• The trailer for the film advertises the film in an unconventional way. It takes place after the events in the film, Homer has arrived in another town and tells the story of a man named Homer Smith to another man as well as the lessons that Homer learned. The man asks what happened to Homer, to which Homer replies that he does not know and then leaves. A woman who is friends with the man arrives and staring at Homer leaving, exclaims: "Do you know who that was...that was Harry Belafonte!"

The Red Circle is the oldest known trailer with a moving image Film trailers are film advertisements. ... Harold George Belafonte, Jr. ...

External links

• Lilies of the Field at the Internet Movie Database