Lilies of the Field

Homer Smith is a construction worker drifting west when his car overheats near a farm in the Arizona desert. He stops for water and finds the place run by a small group of Catholic nuns who have come from Eastern Europe. Their superior, Mother Maria, is convinced that Homer has been sent to them so that he can build the church the community needs, and she sets about persuading him to stay.

Ralph Nelson directed and produced the film, working from a screenplay by James Poe; it followed his Requiem for a Heavyweight and Soldier in the Rain and arrived in the same year as the latter. Sidney Poitier plays Homer, with Lilia Skala as Mother Maria and Lisa Mann, Isa Crino, Francesca Jarvis and Pamela Branch as the other sisters. Released in June 1963 and running ninety-four minutes, the film is a comedy-drama that took about seven million dollars worldwide.

On IMDb it holds 7.5/10 from roughly 15,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 7.2/10 from a much smaller group of 234. The critics' rating of 8.1/10 comes from 26 reviews, placing it noticeably higher than either audience figure.