We report on structural and electrical properties of CdS films chemically deposited at temperatures 60-70 o C from solutions containing cadmium citrate complex-ions and thiourea. We demonstrated the material deposition on a variety of flexible substrates, including viewfoils, cloth, and threads and fabricated devices on the deposited films including solar cells, stress sensors, and photoconductive sensors. Scanning electron microscopy and high resolution transmission electron microscopy data show that the films consist of nanocrystalline grains. The X-ray diffraction data identify crystalline CdS with hexagonal structure with a very high degree of crystallinity. The relative intensity of the peaks in the X-ray spectrum shows that the crystallites are oriented. The nanostructure of the CdS films results in a giant reproducible sensitivity to stress (tension) under UV illumination.