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Lilies of the Field

Director: Ralph Nelson (Dir) Release Date: 1963 Premiere Information: Denver, Colorado, opening: 25 Sep 1963 Duration (in mins): 97			Print this page Display Movie Summary

Cast:	Sidney Poitier	(Homer Smith)
	Lilia Skala	(Mother Maria)
	Lisa Mann	(Sister Gertrude)
	Isa Crino	(Sister Agnes)
	Francesca Jarvis	(Sister Albertine)
	Pamela Branch	(Sister Elizabeth)
	Stanley Adams	(Juan)
	Dan Frazer	(Father Murphy)
	Ralph Nelson	(Mr. Ashton)

Summary:

While touring the southwestern United States, Homer Smith, a black ex-GI, encounters five nuns attempting to farm some barren Arizona land on the edge of the desert. He asks them for a day's work and learns that they are East German refugees who have come to the States to claim the farm which was willed to their Order. Homer repairs their leaky roof and performs other chores, but the Mother Superior persuades him to stay on to help clear the debris from a collapsed barn. Although he is astounded to learn that Mother Maria intends for him to erect a new chapel on the site, Homer so admires her determination that he agrees to take the job if she can provide the materials. He also goes to work for a local contractor, contributing his pay to buy food for the Order and teaches English to the nuns. When the materials run out, however, Homer leaves. He returns a few weeks later, drawn by the urge to finish the chapel, and the townspeople, ashamed of their negligence, finally join in and help Homer. The evening before the bishop is due to arrive for the dedication, Homer leaves as unceremoniously as he had arrived.

Production Company:	Rainbow Productions, Inc.
Distribution Company:	United Artists
Director:	Ralph Nelson	(Dir)
	Harry R. Sherman	(Asst dir)
	Joe Popkin	(Asst dir)
Producer:	Ralph Nelson	(Prod)
	J. Paul Popkin	(Assoc prod)
Writer:	James Poe	(Scr)
Photography:	Ernest Hall	(Dir of photog)
Film Editor:	John McCafferty	(Film ed)
Costumes:	Wesley Sherrard	(Ward)
Music:	Jerry Goldsmith	(Mus)
	Jester Hairston	(Vocal arr)
Sound:	Carlton W. Faulkner	(Sd eng)
	Del Harris	(Sd eff)
	Albie Shaff	(Music ed)
Production Misc:	Lawrence A. Hampton	(Prod coordinator)
	Stanley Scheuer	(Scr supv)
	Robert Eaton	(Prop master)
	Leo McCreary	(Head grip)
	Norman C. McClay	(Gaffer)
	CFI	(Titles, opticals & processing)
Country:	United States

Source Text:	Based on the novel The Lilies of the Field by William E. Barrett (Garden City, New York, 1962).
Authors:	William E. Barrett

Copyright Claimant	Copyright Date	Copyright Number
Rainbow Productions, Inc.	1/10/1963 dd/mm/yyyy	LP27725, LP27744

Physical Properties:	b&w:
	Sd:	Westrex


Genre:	Comedy-drama

Subjects (Major):	Arizona
	Chapels
	Churches
	Construction industry
	Agriculture
	Germans
	Handymen
	Inheritance
	African Americans
	Nuns
	Refugees, Political

Note:	Filmed in and around Tucson, Arizona.

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The American Film Institute is grateful to Sir Paul Getty KBE and the Sir Paul Getty KBE Estate for their dedication to the art of the moving image and their support for the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and without whose support AFI would not have been able to achieve this historical landmark in this epic scholarly endeavor.



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