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Released by: Twilight Time
Released on: March 15th, 2016.
Director: Ralph Nelson
Cast: Sidney Poitier, Lilia Skala, Lisa Mann
Year: 1963
Purchase From Screen Archives
The Movie:
Based on the novel by William E. Barrett, Lilies Of The Field was directed by Ralph Nelson in 1963 and it's a film that has lost none of its charm over the years. The great Sidney Poitier took home the Oscar gold in his turn as a down on his luck construction worker named Homer Smith. When the film begins, he finds himself out of work. Without much else to do, Homer decides to take his car and head out to the west coast. Not too soon after he heads out of town, his car runs into a problem in the desert and it overheats, leaving him in a bit of a bind.
Luckily for him (or maybe not so luckily, depending on how you look at it) there is a farm not too far away. When he notices this, he figures he can get some water for his radiator and get back on the road without too much of a hassle. But it turns out that this farm in particular may have been a bad choice for Homer, as its run by an eclectic group of European nuns. The Mother Superior, Mother Maria (Lilia Skala, also nominated for an Academy Award for her work in this film), believes that Homer has arrived not out of circumstance but out of divine intervention. She really and truly believes that he has in fact been sent by God himself to help the nuns build a church in the middle of the desert.
Director Ralph Nelson put his house up to get this movie made but the gamble paid off and the movie was quite a success. Nelson's direction is assured and confident but the real reason to watch this one is the interplay between Poitier and Skala. The two expert actors go back and forth with one another throughout the film in a believable and entertaining manner. Poitier is the worldly one, the rough and tumble guy who just wants a break, while Skala sees everything he does as a sign from above. Of course, in the way that these things tend to unfold in the movies, as they get to know one another each one learns from the other and the collectively change for the better.
Shot out in the acrid, dusty desert Lilies Of The Field is an attractive looking film. There are a lot of great shots of the nuns looking simultaneously out of place and completely at home out there in the dirt, it makes for interesting visual contrast. Likewise, seeing Poitier standing amongst the sisters is also amusing in a strange way. It might be as predictable as they come but there's such genuine warmth to the film and its cliché ridden but entirely heartfelt story that you can't help but get wrapped up in it all. The comedy is very light, as is the drama, but it works. The film is very nicely assembled, the pacing is just fine, it looks great and there's just such an aura of infectious happiness to it all that you can't not like it.
Video/Audio/Extras:
This Blu-ray release of Lilies Of The Field is presented in AVC encoded 1.66.1 widescreen picture shows excellent detail and texture with nice depth and texture evident throughout. The image is very clean but has a nice amount of natural looking grain evident, the kind that reminds you this was shot on film. The picture never looks overly processed, there's no evidence of noise reduction or edge enhancement, and the picture is free of compression artifacts. The image is also very clean, there's virtually no print damage here to note at all. The transfer is excellent.
The English language DTS-HD Mono track is also of very good quality. Dialogue is clean, clear and easy to follow and the score has nice depth and range. Hiss and distortion are never an issue and the levels are properly balanced throughout. Optional English subtitles are provided.
The main extra on the disc is a commentary track from Lem Dobbs, Nick Redman and Julie Kirgo. It's a well-rounded discussion that offers up some interesting thoughts and analysis on the film's effectiveness. There's discussion of the source material, the directing style, the use of music in the film, the locations and of course the different cast members, Poitier in particular.
Additionally we get an isolated score offered up in DTS-HD, a trailer for the feature, an MGM 90th Anniversary trailer and an insert booklet containing liner notes written by Kirgo accompanied by some archival images.
The Final Word:
Lilies Of The Field is, for lack of a better word, heartwarming. Rarely does a film have such genuine warmth as this one, and Twilight Time have done a very fine job bringing this classic to Blu-ray for the first time.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
