Tucson Film has improved its reputation

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) – There is a Tucson connection with a revered actor who died Thursday night.

Sidney Poitier died at the age of 94. A movie shot in Tucson made him the first African American to win an Oscar. KGUN 9 On Your Side spoke to an actor from Tucson who was sharing the screen with Poitier.

Sidney Poitier lived a life of honor for his work on stage and on screen and for his commitment to civil rights.

One of his previous honors was an Oscar for Best Actor for Lilies of the Field. He plays a man passing through Arizona. A group of nuns enchants him to build a chapel for them.

There are ornate doors from the movie band in Sasabe today, but the movie was shot in Tucson.

Francesca Jarvis, an actress who played one of those nuns, recalls how charming Poitier could be.

“He was very generous. A charming, delightful man. And we were under a lot of pressure because this film was shot in 10 days. 1, 2, 3 takes and I had never made a movie before. And so it was with vocational training. I didn’t know how to hit a sign. And Sydney was so supportive. He really knew how difficult it would be for me. “

Francesca Jarvis says she was able to get this first film job because the producers wanted Poitier to be the only known actor in the film. So the audience could concentrate on their performance.

She had done stage work, but the success of Lilies of the Field kicked off her film and television career.

“I got 25 films, films of the week, I did Gunsmokes and Little House on the Prairie. The second film I made was Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean with Paul Newman, where I played a prostitute. I went from a nun to a prostitute and thought that everything else in the middle was fair game. “

And even at 89, she’s ready to hit the signature song by Lilies of the Field.

“Amen! Amen! Amen! Amen! Amen!”

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