While driving through Arizona, Homer Smith (Sidney Poitier) stops at a chapel run by a group of East German nuns. He intends to stay only briefly, but ends up building most of the chapel for them. Naturally, both sides are a bit unfamiliar with the other side: Homer has to explain to the nuns his life as a black man in America, and the nuns have to explain to Homer their mission in life.

As always, Sidney Poitier does a splendid job as a man forcing people to look into their own prejudices. In fact, his character is someone still looking for his path in life. Maybe some people might say that Poitier was essentially playing the same character that he always played, but we have to remember that this was a total break from the Stepin Fetchit mold that had dominated the image of black people for so long, so movies like "Lilies of the Field" were pretty important. Poitier's Oscar win for this movie was well-deserved.

Homer Smith (Sidney Poitier) is a stubborn , obstinate ex-soldier when heading himself to the West he stops at a farm in desert . There meets a group of speaking-German nuns from East European Catholic . They are ruled by a stiff Superior Mother called Mary (Lilia Skala) and she thinks Smith has been sent by Christ for the building their church . They'll develop a likable friendship , helping the unfortunate nuns and creating a particular divine mission until the touching ending .

It's a fascinating , quiet film , perfectly acted and concerning the narration about the construction a church of riveting manner . Gentle , sympathetic Poitier and the strict Superior nun confront wills each other , but finally learn the meaning of the power of God and ultimately come to respect themselves . The storyline by James Poe relies heavily on the continued relationship among them but it isn't tiring ; being entertained and with numerous diverting moments and agreeable feeling . Enjoyable comedy and laughters are continuous ; the chuckles are based on diverse characters and differences among protagonists , he's Protestant , nuns are Catholics . Biggest of the film are the musical duets between Poitier and the nuns . The movie is well set with nice rural scenarios and is't eventually hampered by racist stereotypes on the black men , neither Mexican people . The story is narrated with sensitivity and intelligence and are treated religious and ethic issues with great sense of fairness and ductility . Ideal cast completed with magnificent actors . Sidney Poitier won a well deserved Oscar . He was the second African-American to win an Academy Award , before won Hattie McDaniel and later will achieve it famous actors as Cuba Gooding , Denzel Washington and Halle Berry . Glamorous and sensational cinematography by Ernest Haller . Moving and phenomenal score by the great Jerry Goldsmith and beautiful blues-songs by Poitier . The motion picture was driven with enormous fair play by director Ralph Nelson (Blue soldier) who followed this with a television movie . This is a wholesome and politically correct family fare . Indispensable seeing for Poitier fans.

An out of work contractor (Sidney Poitier) happens upon an ODD group of nuns. After all, they are five East German nuns in the middle of the Arizona desert! While the nuns have no money and you have no idea why he stays, this Baptist man stays and helps them complete their chapel.

"Lilies of the Field" is a nice film filled with nice people doing nice things. It can't help but be a movie that people would enjoy, as it has a nice message and nice acting. However, I can't quite see why Sidney Poitier won the Oscar for Best Actor, as the film really didn't seem to take any risks and certainly won't offend. His performance was good but I think he certainly did a lot better, such as in "In the Heat of the Night" or "Edge of the City" or "Pressure Point"--all films which had a much riskier message and required more skill on Poitier's part. Mind you, I liked "Lilies of the Field"--I just didn't feel it was a particularly noteworthy film--though it is a nice family picture.