History Film / LiliesOfTheField

Homer, after staying the night with the nuns, wakes up the next morning expecting to be paid for his work. Mother Maria, however, does not pay him--eventually it becomes clear that she has no money to pay him with. Instead, by sheer force of will she prevails upon Homer to stick around and do odd jobs on the nuns' little farm in exchange for room and board. Homer also takes on the job of driving the nuns to their weekly Sunday mass, which is held in the parking lot of a gas station because there is no church. Mother Maria comes to believe that Homer has been sent to the nuns by God to carry out her dream: the construction of a real chapel next to the farmhouse, to give local Catholics a real place of worship. While Homer would still prefer to be paid in cash, he also has unfulfilled dreams of being an architect, so eventually he agrees.

Homer stays the night with the nuns, waking up the next morning expecting to be paid for his work. Mother Maria, however, does not pay him--eventually it becomes clear that she has no money to pay him with. Instead, by sheer force of will she prevails on Homer to stick around and do odd jobs on their little farm in return for room and board. Homer also takes on the job of driving the nuns to their Sunday mass, which is held weekly in the parking lot of a gas station, because there is no church. Mother Maria comes to believe that Homer has been sent to the nuns by God to carry out her dream: the construction of a real chapel next to the farmhouse, to give local Catholics a real place of worship. While Homer would still like to be paid in cash, he also has unfulfilled dreams of being an architect, so eventually he agrees.

The screenplay by James Poe was [[TheFilmOfTheBook adapted from]] William Edmund Barrett's 1962 novel ''The Lilies of the Field''. Music/JerryGoldsmith composed the score. Sidney Poitier became the first black man ever to win an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Actor for his performance, and one of only five to this day--the others being Creator/DenzelWashington for ''Film/TrainingDay'', Creator/JamieFoxx for ''Film/{{Ray}}'', Creator/ForestWhitaker for ''Film/TheLastKingOfScotland'', and Creator/WillSmith for ''Film/KingRichard''.

* TitleDrop: Mother Maria quotes from Matthew and the Sermon on the Mount (see AsTheGoodBookSays above) when talking Homer into sticking around and building the chapel.

This film was [[TheFilmOfTheBook adapted from]] William Edmund Barrett's 1962 novel of the same name. Music/JerryGoldsmith composed the score. Sidney Poitier became the first black man ever to win an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Actor for his performance, and one of only five to this day--the others being Creator/DenzelWashington for ''Film/TrainingDay'', Creator/JamieFoxx for ''Film/{{Ray}}'', Creator/ForestWhitaker for ''Film/TheLastKingOfScotland'', and Creator/WillSmith for ''Film/KingRichard''.

This film was [[TheFilmOfTheBook adapted from]] William Edmund Barrett's 1962 novel of the same name. Music/JerryGoldsmith composed the score. Sidney Poitier became the first black man ever to win an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Actor for his performance, and only one of four to this day, the others being Creator/DenzelWashington for ''Film/TrainingDay'', Creator/JamieFoxx for ''Film/{{Ray}}'', and Creator/ForestWhitaker for ''Film/TheLastKingOfScotland''.

* AsTheGoodBookSays: The title comes from [[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matt%206:28-Matt%206:29 Matthew 6:28-29]].

--> "I speak English not so good."

Homer stays the night with the nuns, waking up the next morning expecting to be paid for his work. Mother Maria, however, does not pay him--eventually it becomes clear that she has no money to pay him with. Instead, by sheer force of will she prevails on Homer to stick around and do odd jobs on their little farm in return for room and board. Homer also takes on the job of driving the nuns to Sunday mass, which is held weekly in the parking lot of a gas station, because there is no church. Mother Maria comes to believe that Homer has been sent to the nuns by God to carry out her dream: the construction of a real chapel next to the farmhouse, to give local Catholics a real place of worship. While Homer would still like to be paid in cash, he also has unfulfilled dreams of being an architect, so eventually he agrees.

Homer Smith (Poitier) is an itinerant laborer who is passing through the Arizona desert when he stops at a small isolated farmhouse, looking for water for his overheated radiator. The farmhouse turns out to be occupied by a group of German-speaking nuns, escapees from East Germany and elsewhere in the Communist bloc. The nuns are living a very hardscrabble life in the desert, appearing to survive on nothing more than the milk from one cow and the eggs from a few chickens. Mother Maria (Lilia Skala), the mother superior of the group, prevails on Homer to fix the leaky roof to the farmhouse, which he does.

* PositiveDiscrimination: A hallmark of the career of Sidney Poitier, who was pretty much the first black leading man ever. Here Homer Smith is noble and generous, and willing to build a whole damn church for free. Partially justified when Homer tells Mother Maria that he always wanted to be an architect but couldn't afford the schooling.

** After returning from his three weak hiatus, Homer insists on doing the whole job of building the chapel himself. It only ends up leading him to work himself half to death and make a fool of himself in front of others.
-->'''Homer:''' ''You prayed up a lotta bricks, Mama. But you only paid for'' one man.

** It's implied that Mother Superior tends to disdain Homer's concerns because she considers them insignificant compared to her own experiences. Finally being tricked into saying "Thank You" in the final scene startles her.

Homer Smith (Poitier) is an itinerant laborer who is passing through the Arizona desert when he stops at a small isolated farmhouse, looking for water for his overheated radiator. The farmhouse turns out to be occupied by a group of German-speaking nuns, escapees from East Germany and elsewhere in the Communist bloc. The nuns are living a very hardscrabble life in the desert, appearing to survive on nothing more than the milk from one cow and the eggs from a few chickens. The Mother Superior, Mother Maria (Lilia Skala), prevails on Homer to fix the leaky roof to the farmhouse, which he does.

* WomenAreWiser: After the roof is raised, the men wind up in a drunken revelry while the wives and Mother Superior look on with much disapproval.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lilies_of_the_field.jpeg]]

''Lilies of the Field'' is a 1963 drama film directed by Ralph Nelson and starring Creator/SidneyPoitier. It was [[TheFilmOfTheBook adapted from]] William Edmund Barrett's 1962 novel of the same name.

''Lilies of the Field'' was an adaptation of a novel by William Edmund Barrett. Music/JerryGoldsmith composed the score. Sidney Poitier became the first black man ever to win an Oscar for Best Actor, and only one of four to this day, the others being Creator/DenzelWashington for ''Film/TrainingDay'', Creator/JamieFoxx for ''Film/{{Ray}}'', and Creator/ForestWhitaker for ''Film/TheLastKingOfScotland''.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_0726.JPG]]

''Lilies of the Field'' is a 1963 film directed by Ralph Nelson, starring Creator/SidneyPoitier.

Homer Smith (Poitier) is an itinerant laborer who is passing through the Arizona desert when he stops at a small isolated farmhouse, looking for water for his overheated radiator. The farmhouse turns out to be occupied by a group of German-speaking nuns, escapees from East Germany and elsewhere in the Communist bloc. The nuns are living a very hardscrabble life in the desert, appearing to survive on nothing more than the milk from one cow and the eggs from a few chickens. The Mother Superior, Mother Maria, prevails on Homer to fix the leaky roof to the farmhouse, which he does.

** It's implied that Mother Superior tends to disdain Homer's concerns because she considers them insignificant compared to her own experiences. Finally saying "Thank You" in the final scene startles her.
** A local priest admits to praying selfishly and vainly early in his vocation for a big congregation and church to preach in, and considers it fitting punishment for him to now preach to local gatherings who don't even have a church. Homer's chapel stuns him beyond words.

* WhiteMaleLead: Inverted with Poitier, the only black person in the cast, playing the lead character.

''Lilies of the Field'' was an adaptation of a novel by William Edmund Barrett. Music/JerryGoldsmith composed the score. Sidney Poitier became the first black man ever to win an Oscar for Best Actor, and only one of three to this day, the others being Creator/DenzelWashington for ''Film/TrainingDay'', Creator/JamieFoxx for ''Film/{{Ray}}'', and Creator/ForestWhitaker for ''Film/TheLastKingOfScotland''.

''Lilies of the Field'' was an adaptation of a novel by William Edmund Barrett. Music/JerryGoldsmith composed the score. Sidney Poitier became the first black man ever to win an Oscar for Best Actor, and only one of three to this day, the others being Creator/DenzelWashington for ''Film/TrainingDay'' and Creator/ForestWhitaker for ''Film/TheLastKingOfScotland''.

''Lilies of the Field'' was an adaptation of a novel by William Edmund Barrett. Music/JerryGoldsmith composed the score. Sidney Poitier became the first black man ever to win an Oscar for Best Actor, and only one of two to this day, the other being Creator/DenzelWashington for ''Film/TrainingDay''.

''Lilies of the Field'' was an adaptation of a novel by William Edmund Barrett. Music/JerryGoldsmith composed the score.

* NunsAreFunny: A lot of comic business with the wacky nuns and their interaction with Homer, like their squealing joy when Homer brings back lollipops from the grocery store, or how they segue from Latin chanting to enthusiastically joining Homer for the gospel song "Amen".

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