Christmas Lilies of the Field

Loved this movie, saw it in 1979 on TV and have caught it once since then, how can I get a station to play it? I was already a Billy Dee Williams fan so I was already intending to watch it. I had seen the 1963 version with Sidney Poitier and loved it also. I believe it was arguably was the Best Movie of the year in 1963. I have Googled "Ralph Nelson" to find the movie, but with no results. Mr Nelson died in 1987 and because this was a made for TV movie, the tapes have somehow disappeared.I am looking now online for some web address who sells old made for TV tapes. I will try to locate more information on the director.

While I enjoyed this film, I feel that there were a couple of problems with it. The first is that it was shot in color. Having seen the original Lilies of the Field in black & white, there was a certain "feeling" about seeing it in b/w, and somehow seeing the sequel in color just didn't do it for me. The second is with the role of Homer Smith. While I had no problem with Billy Dee Williams playing the role, I have a big problem with him mimicking the voice inflections, hand motions, and movments of Sidney Poitier. I felt that it was too contrived. Sidney Poitier was the perfect actor in the original Lillies of the Field back in '63, he has certain mannerisms and vocal inflections that make him who he is.