The Other movie I watched was "Lilies of the Field" from 1963

[Dave (imported)]

Yes, AMC had it on and I watched it. About once a decade I get to see it.

I remember going with my family to see "Lilies if the Field" in a real theater, first run.

I always admire the way such an uncomplicated story can be so entertaining and uplifting.

[DeaconBlues (imported)]

Yes, it was a good movie, but there were a few bits of really weak and implausible dialogue between "Homer Smith" and the Mother Superior, still, I liked it very much and keep my DVD copy around, watch it every few years.

"Lillies of the Field" was an excellent movie when it was made, but if it were made today, I really think it would "inflame the African-American community" and no doubt many would claim that it demeans African-Americans with this modern day version of slavery and an "Uncle Tom" sort of character.

[Paolo]

I enjoyed "At Play in the Fields of the Lord". Pity it's never been put to DVD.

[moi621 (imported)]

Yes, it was a good movie, but there were a few bits of really weak and implausible dialogue between "Homer Smith" and the Mother Superior, still, I liked it very much and keep my DVD copy around, watch it every few years.

"Lillies of the Field" was an excellent movie when it was made, but if it were made today, I really think it would "inflame the African-American community" and no doubt many would claim that it demeans African-Americans with this modern day version of slavery and an "Uncle Tom" sort of character.

Sidney Poitier refused roles he did not feel were respectful.

If he felt Lilies of the Field was Uncle Tom or demeaning to Black people, he would not of made it.

Moi

Hollywood raised.

Just off Barham and Lake Forest Dr.

[Riverwind (imported)]

Sidney Poitier refused roles he did not feel were respectful.

If he felt Lilies of the Field was Uncle Tom or demeaning to Black people, he would not of made it.

Moi

Hollywood raised.

Just off Barham and Lake Forest Dr.

You could not be more wrong if you tried, remember I grew up just down the street from Universal.

The reason he made those movies was to make the black man more acceptable to white America, he would never make those kinds of movies today nor would any other black man.

[Dave (imported)]

I saw this with my family and it warmed the entire audience. The brilliance of the movie is that the German Mother Superior immediately accepts this man as a gift from God and sets out in that single minded quest for that chapel. That's why Poitier could take the role because any actor could have fit the part, white, black or Hispanic as most of the congregation turns out to be.

Looking back, it was that time when lily white lost favor and movies wanted to prove they weren't "prejudiced" against African Americans.

No one would write that role in this day and age but remember when suddenly Flip Wilson got a show, Nat King Cole got a show, or remember the painfully silly "Dy-No-Mite" and "Moving on up" and that family that adopted a little black kid. This was the day and age when Natalie Wood played Maria in West Side Story. Now that was a true casting atrocity. Not because Natalie Wood was bad but because she wasn't Hispanic.

All step stones on the path.

Today, we cast "other" ethnicity and race as equal without thought.

[moi621 (imported)]

You could not be more wrong if you tried, remember I grew up just down the street from Universal.

The reason he made those movies was to make the black man more acceptable to white America, he would never make those kinds of movies today nor would any other black man.

I know what I heard Mr. Poitier say in an interview.

[Paolo]

I seem to have confused my fields.

Brain fart. They're getting more common!

More on Sidney:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001627/bio#quotes

Did you know he survived prostate cancer?

There's too much there to post, but I doubt an imdb link is going to go away.