SunnyHello Nice effects though.

Bluebell Alcock Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

metrobiz Before the serious part of the Review, this film contains probably the first on-camera use of "whatever," so prevalent among today's "mean girls," spoken by the Mother Superior.•• Not only is the cinematography B&W beautiful, showing the dunderheaded Instagram narcissists of today as Zuckerburgs using the internet to find girls, and the Poitier performance Oscar-worthy - deserved - for its perfect pitch of old-southern- black'ery that never quite breaches cliché' and a black man with modern aspirations, it serves as a a Crystal Ball vision 50-years forward to what we have today politically - with the clash of Euro-Black-Latino integration and a black man leading the amalgam. Add to that the uneasy Baptist-Catholic traditions, the agnostic, the entitled white "hey boah (boy)" business owner, latinos looking for work in the building trades, etc., and we see exactly what exists today, with a black man actually providing the leadership, if somewhat unwillingly at first, prodded by a zealot. In a sense, one sees all that's "bad" about America thrown into a filmed pot (plot) in the arid Southwest to combine to make the finest Louisiana gumbo one can imagine - the genius of the American Experiment for all its contentious nonsense and prefab prejudice. The film even presages the rise of Austrian nuns 2-years later as an entertainment motif in "The Sound of Music." And yet, for its themes, it emerges in the milieu of "It's A Wonderful Life," "Miracle on 34th Street," and "White Christmas" somehow. It's title? From the Bible, Matthew 6.Amazing. A must-see for true film'ophiles. An under-sung classic.

wxwax Disney films follow a pretty straightforward formula.Mini conflict --> mini schmaltzy resolution. Rinse and repeat for 90 minutes. By the end, the overarching conflict also ends with a summarizing schmaltzy resolution. Depending upon your point of view this is either wholesomely feelgood or nauseatingly sweet.It's this formula which Ralph Nelson puts to work in Lilies in the Field. Immigrant nuns seeking to build a chapel in impoverished desert country pray for help. It arrives in the form of unemployed itinerant worker Sidney Poitier.What separates this from Disney fare is the story's touchy social themes. In 1963 Disney didn't do films that dealt with themes like racism, faith, poverty and immigration. This was pretty aggressive subject matter for a time when Lyndon Johnson was still a year away from proposing the Great Society.So it's possible that Nelson decided that he needed a generous spoonful of sugar to make his social medicine palatable. Judging by the box office, he was right.In Sidney Poitier he has a star who conveniently combines a palatable personality with social relevance -- the color of his skin. Poitier delivers a friendly and mostly believable Oscar-winning counterpoint to the flinty-with-a-heart-of-gold Mother Superior who leads her little band of nuns on their seemingly impossible quest to build a chapel with no money or resources.Speaking of no money and no resources, perhaps the most remarkable thing about this film isn't the story on the screen. It's the story of the making of the film. Ralph Nelson, who produced as well as directed, was compelled by United Artists to hock his house in order to guarantee the film's paltry $240,000 production budget.Even more amazing -- and I'm still having a hard time believing this -- Nelson et al shot the entire film in precisely two weeks in Tuscon. With no money, Poitier and cast broke union rules to rehearse in secret at Nelson's Los Angeles home before heading to their Tuscon location. And the chapel at the center of the story was actually built as the film was being shot, then destroyed after.Lilies of the Field is a sweet and generally agreeable examination of social issues just coming to the fore in 1963. That Nelson did a good job gauging his audience's tolerance for his sensitive themes is testified to by the movie's strong box office and its star's Best Actor award.But those with a taste for stronger medicine (or those seeking an indication of how much social attitudes changed in just four years) might prefer some of the same themes in 1964's Poitier masterpiece, In the Heat of the Night.

wes-connors With his car overheating near an Arizona desert, Baptist handyman and ex-serviceman Sidney Poitier (as Homer Smith) stops to ask five Catholic nuns for water. In return, Mr. Poitier helps around the holy house and gives Mother Superior Lilia Skala (as Maria) and the group a lesson in speaking English. Poitier learns the nuns have traveled from East Germany. They believe Poitier was sent from Heaven, to help them build a new chapel. Poitier doesn't think he's up to the task, but God may have other plans… This was an understandable favorite when it bowed at the 1963 "Berlin Film Festival" where acting and directing awards were bestowed upon Poitier and Ralph Nelson. The wave of warm-hearted feelings and critical acclaim rode all the way home to the United States, where Poitier won the "Academy Award" for "Best Actor". This was an historical win; after 100 years, a struggle against institutionalized racism was reaching fruition. Poitier is great, although the "Amen" dubbing almost does his performance in...Released during pivotal events in the Civil Rights Movement, "Lilies of the Field" almost startlingly made no political points about race; instead, it paralleled the movement's wise use of religion and non-violence. By speaking softly, the film carried a big stick. This is not a great motion picture (outside of context), but "Lilies of the Field" helped provide many with hope, dignity, and inspiration. Poitier made it to the mountaintop. Climb every mountain, ford every stream, follow every rainbow until you find your dream.******* Lilies of the Field (6/63) Ralph Nelson ~ Sidney Poitier, Lilia Skala, Stanley Adams, Dan Frazer

Rodrigo Amaro Sidney Poitier in a Academy Award Winning Performance plays Homer Smith, a man who was the answer for the prayers of a group of German nuns led by Sister Mary (Lila Skala) who wanted someone to built a chapel in a almost forgotten place in the nice "Lillies in the Field". Homer accepts the task, reluctantly and with constant arguments with Sister Mary, who seems to don't have any kind of money and she keeps these subject to the other day (quoting a Bible versicle), almost forcing this man to do the job but he was just passing through the city. With the help of Juan (Stanley Adams) and the local residents Homer's gonna built the chapel and teach some valuable lessons to the nuns and to the town's people."Lillies in the Field" deals with themes of solidarity, comprehension, faith yet it is a funny and moving film that doesn't seem to preach anything more than love and respect among people. However, I found that the story could work more on the nuns in the sense of teaching something good to Homer and not only backwards, because it worked as if these nuns were only exploiting this man, who built a chapel for them, teach them English and some songs, and bought material and different kinds of food for all them, and in return they only gave him a place to stay, thousands of work to do and lot of complaints. The film's intentions are good, plausible, commendable but to some might look as a advantage situation explored by the Church and that denies everything it was trying to present. The small supporting cast is great, but the outstanding performances of Poitier and Skala and all of the scenes between the two are excellent. Surprising as it might be this film haven't portrayed any situation of prejudice themes which was something recurring in Poitier's films during the 1950's and 1960's. The characters here are presented as human beings that help each other without caring about the skin color; it had one or two undertones about this issue (the guy in the construction shop who couldn't believe in Homer being a contractor), but it wasn't nothing so sad or uncomfortable.It goes for 10 stars because it's a small film that achieves great levels, great things and as long as I live and watch films I want to remember of films like this that are simple, has fantastic moments and a positive message. 10/10