Lilies of the Field Eric Olson Few actors have affected change on the big screen with greater subtlety than Sidney Poitier . The quiet, softspoken actor predates such stars as Morgan Freeman , Denzel Washington and Wesley Snipes . But just as today s great athletes owe a debt of gratitude to previous generations that helped break race stereotypes and restrictions, so to do many of today s actors owe Poitier. MGM has been busy releasing multitudes of titles from their vast collection of movie classics, but the result of their efforts have been discs that are barebones at best.
Lilies falls into that group, offering few bonus features and a basic, though passable transfer.
Poitier stars as Homer Smith, a handyman drifting his way through the Arizona desert as he heads to California. Along the way, he meets five nuns struggling to make ends meet. He decides to stay and help, eventually leading the nuns in the building of their new chapel. The result is heartwarming and spiritual, but it is saying more than what is on the screen. Poitier, in his choice of roles over his career, quietly took the civil rights cause to the big screen.