Lillies of the Fiels and An Officer and a Gentleman

This is the second of a series of reviews chronicling the African American actors who have been recognized by the Academy for their acting ability. The first African American actor to receive the award was Hattie MaDaniel for her portrayal as 'Mammy' in 1939's Gone With The Wind. For the second African American to walk away with this coveted award, we jump over a quarter of a century later, to 1963 and take a look at the film, Lillies of the Field. This film debuted during a turbulent time for African Americans in the United States. Sandwiched between the assassinations of John f. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., this movie brought into people's homes another side of African Americans that was not seen on the nightly news.

The movie is serenely set in the middle of the Arizona desert and starts off with Homer Smith, played by Sidney Poitier, stopping of at a farm for. Because he is a repairperson, he is persuaded to stay the night and fix the roof. Poitier was the second African American to receive an academy Award for his role in this film.

The real kicker is that we find out that the nuns are broke as a joke and have no money, but somehow, Homer is persuaded to stay longer, with the lure of a hot meal and hopes that Mother Maria, played by Lilia Skala, will give him his pay in the morning. I guess that you could see this coming from a mile away that this turns out to be a mistake because the nuns now think that he was sent my God to build a chapel for the small near by town.

Homer is by the nuns to attend Sunday Masas with them, but declines because he claims that he is a Baptist. He picks up a fare, Juan, played by Stanley Adams who tells him the story of the nuns. He tells of their hardship immigrating to the States, escaping from Germany just to come to the United States and work night and day for pennies on the dollar. Riddled with guilt, Homer decides to help the nuns out a bit.

Tempted to leave, but then reconsiders, Homer concedes to building the chapel after he confesses to Mother Maria that he always wanted to be an architect. To supplement his pro bono work on the chapel, Homer gets a job working for Mr. Ashton, played by Ralph Nelson, who is impressed by his knowledge of equipment. While working for the nuns, he teaches them English and passes the time by swapping spirituals.

Already surprised that he took on this monumental task, Homer insists that he take on the feat of building the chapel on his own. Commanding that he accepts no help from ANYONE and that he builds it all alone. Here is where I query the feat of moving all that material alone and with out any help, but I continue to watch anyway.

I guess the director thought to this too and did not let me down with his next moves. It turns out the towns people were thinking along the same lines as the director and me, because the next thing you know, the town's people having none of that as well. The secretly find little ways of helping Homer in his endeavor. So much so to the point where Homer is no longer doing any of the work, but supervising, and telling people what to do until it is completed. However, a very touching story at this point, the ending is somewhat anti-climactic. Once complete, Mother Maria swallows her pride and actually thanks Homer for his work. Homer then slips off quietly into the night.

Jumping two entire decades from the last time an African took home the coveted award, we now take a look at An Officer and a Gentleman.

Zack Mayo, played by Richard Gere, is a wanna be Navy Pilot. He goes to aviator training camp and is pitted against his angry drill sergeant, Emil Foley, played by Lou Gossett jr. Gossett was awarded an Academy Award for acting for this role. Though confident enough to become an aviator, Mayo is said by Foley to be too involved with himself to be a great pilot. While at aviator school Mayo befriends Sid Worley, played by David Keith. It was not until Worley's suicide over a lost love, does Mayo buck up and show the world that he is no longer a boy, but a man ready to take over the world. The film ends when Mayo busts into a factory where his girlfriend is working and carries her out in his arms