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Lillies of the
Field
"Lilies
of the Field" was a small, good novel made into a
small, good movie.
Think of the book and film versions of Glendon
Swarthout's "Bless the Beasts and Children," or
even Charles Portis' "True Grit." These are not
major works of twentieth-century literature, but they are
solid and typically American in their strong, independent
characters and distinctive human interaction. Ralph
Nelson's film takes William E. Barrett's book and turns
it into a plain, intriguing tale.
Homer Smith (Sidney Poitier), the novel tells us, is and
ex-GI. (The movie is sparer than the book in this area,
telling us very little about his background; we know only
that he is Southern Baptist, and that he is traveling in
his station wagon/home through the American Southwest.)
Stopping at a desolate mission in the desert, Homer asks
a nun for water for his overheating car. Moments later he
examines his skinny wallet and decides to do a few chores
for the nuns, before he moves on to whatever city happens
to come next.
But a few chores turn into a hot and cold relationship of
several months' duration. Mother Maria (Lilia Skala) puts
off Homer's requests for payment, but looks heavenward
gratefully for the "big, strong man He has
sent" to build a chapel in the convent compound. At
first reluctant to undertake this daunting task, Homer
tangles with a big-time builder named Ashton, in town,
and ends up driving Ashton's bulldozers two days a week.
So some cash is coming in while Homer struggles with
constructing a modest adobe church in the torrid sun -
that is, until he runs out of bricks.
Sidney Poitier is masterful as Homer Smith; this is one
of the roles that Poitier will be remembered for. His
subtle humor fills the plot, even becoming hilarious at
times. In one scene Homer is teaching the German nuns
English, and he cannot help himself from modeling for
them some Southern black dialect: Instead of "I
stand up," he grins as the sisters follow his "Ah
stands up, y'all"! Homer is so likable because he is
good-natured, but Poitier lends texture to his character
mainly through his interaction with his foil, the Mother
Superior who will not thank him for all of his labors.
Watch for strong muscial scenes from Poitier as well, in
which he intermingles his own religious background with
the nun's East Germany Catholicism.
Lilia Skala is appropriately stern and commanding as
Mother Maria. We know the sisters have come a long way,
even over the Berlin Wall, to get to this inherited
property in the American desert. The broken English
spoken by her and her charges serves to endear the nuns
to us. They are all humble but fiercely devoted people.
As Juan, Stanley Adams does nice work. Although his
accent and diction smack of falseness - this man seems to
want to revert to a Bronx twang - Adams musters a
rascally nonchalance that bonds him with Homer. Juan also
functions as a template for the modern age:
Catholic-born, this agnostic now serves meals in his
restaurant while the traveling priest says mass for the
people who have come from far and wide.
Dan Frazer does well as Father Murphy, the priest whose
prayers for a massive cathedral were answered with a
trailer with bald tires. And director Ralph Nelson ( who
made many films beside this one, notably "Requiem
for a Heavyweight," "Father Goose" and
"Charly) acquits himself well as Mr. Ashton, the
slightly racist builder who employs Homer and who is the
victim of Mother Maria's constant pleas for donations.
Jerry Goldsmith's score lends light-hearted fun to many
scenes. The segueways are particularly interesting, with
folksy harmonica swipes accompanying Homer's station
wagon on the dusty hills.
If you are looking for a small but thought-provoking
work, a film that covers tolerance and faith and
friendship through its exploration of a most unlikely
relationship, watch "Lilies of the Field."
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