Priests on Film

Directed by Anthony Page.
95 minutes; released 1978.
A priest in a Catholic boys' school becomes the victim of psychological manipulation at the hands of one of his students. Starring Richard Burton and Billy Connolly.

Directed by Carol Reed.
138 minutes; released 1965.
Pope Julius II and the artist Michelangelo disagree with each other about the painting of the Sistine Chapel. Based on the novel by Irving Stone. Starring Charlton Heston and Rex Harrison.

Directed by Costa-Gavras.
130 minutes; released 2002.
A German chemist and a Jesuit priest try to tell the world about German use of the gas Zyclon B to exterminate Jews and political undesirables. When their story falls on deaf ears, they find themselves joining ranks with Roman Jews being rounded up by Nazi forces in occupied Italy. Adapted from the stage drama "The Representative."

Directed by Chris Newby.
108 minutes; released 1993.
In fourteenth-century England, a peasant girl is so attracted to a statue of the Virgin Mary that the local priest suggests she be walled up in the church as an anchoress. But when the priest has the girl's mother tried as a witch, she digs herself out of her cell, a crime for which the punishment is death.

Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky.
205 minutes; released 1966.
A 15th-century monk perseveres in painting icons despite the civil disruptions and cruel turmoil of his times. In Russian with English subtitles.

Directed by Michael Curtiz.
97 minutes; released 1938.
Two childhood friends, one a charismatic ghetto tough, the other a parish priest, confront each other to see who will have lasting influence on a group of young hoodlums.

Directed by Antonello Belluco.
100 minutes; released 2006.
A reformed criminal recounts the story of Saint Anthony who challenged the money lenders that enslaved the people of Padua. Starring Jordi Molla. In Italian with optional English subtitles.

Directed by Daniele D'Onofrio and Tiziano Mancini.
84 minutes; released 2008.
Composer Ildebrando Pizzetti's opera about the murder of Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral.

Directed by Alexander Ramati.
115 minutes; released 1985.
Italian clergy and laity struggle to save several hundred Jews from Nazi execution following the German occupation of Italy in the Second World War.

Directed by Paul Harrison et al.
50-minute episodes; released 1996.
A young priest serving in the small Irish village of Ballykissangel discovers the town poses many more challenges than he expected.

Directed by Peter Glenville.
150 minutes; released 1964.
The lifelong friendship of King Henry II and Thomas Becket is tested when Becket is appointed Archbishop of Canterbury. Based on the play by Jean Anouilh. Starring Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole.

Directed by Leo McCarey.
126 minutes; released 1945.
Easy-going Father O'Malley and iron-willed Sister Benedict find themselves in a subtle battle of wits over how the children should be educated at St. Mary's Parochial School. Starring Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman.

Directed by Bruce Beresford.
101 minutes; released 1991.
A French Jesuit priest is sent to the Canadian wilderness in the seventeenth century. Based on the novel by Brian Moore. Starring Lothaire Bluteau.

Directed by David Askey.
25-minute episodes; released 1978.
A television series about a young light-hearted priest sent to a suburban London parish in the early 1950s as assistant to a seasoned veteran pastor.

Directed by John N. Smith.
186 minutes; released 1992.
A dramatization of the true story about sexual and physical abuse of boys at an orphanage in Newfoundland run by the Christian Brothers.

Directed by Norman Taurog.
93 minutes; released 1938.
Father Edward Flanagan runs a home for troubled boys. Also features the movie's sequel, Men of Boys Town (106 min.; 1941).

Directed by Otto Preminger.
180 minutes; released 1963.
A priest must deal with interfaith marriage, abortion, racism and war. Starring Tom Tryon and John Huston.

Directed by Jonathan Meyers.
90 minutes; released 2005.
A student at a Catholic high school confesses to a priest that he has committed a murder, but then frames the priest who is bound to the silence of the confessional.

Directed by Jack Gold.
80 minutes; released 1973.
In the early 1970s a priest is sent from Rome to reform a traditional monastery in Ireland.

Directed by Paolo Damosso.
115 minutes; released 2007.
The inspiring life of Saint Joseph Benedict Cottolengo, who cared for orphans, the sick, the poor, and the needy in nineteenth-century Turin. In Italian with English subtitles.

Directed by Carlos Carrera.
119 minutes; released 2002.
A young priest is assigned to a parish where he becomes involved in corrupt politics and an illicit relationship with a woman. In English or Spanish, with optional English, French or Spanish subtitles.

Directed by Nino J. Martin.
90 minutes; released 1978.
Writer Aldyth Morris' one-man play about Blessed Damien de Veuster, the priest who worked with lepers in Hawaii. Starring Terence Knapp.

Directed by Robert Hamer.
91 minutes; released 1954.
Father Brown is an eccentric priest who spends his spare time working as an amateur private-eye to capture and reform criminals. Based on a short story by G.K. Chesterton. Starring Alec Guinness.

Directed by Eugene Martin.
78 minutes; released 2001.
A priest is assigned to an inner-city parish where he is faced with gangs, poverty, drugs and an often felt feeling of hopelessness. Based on the book by John P. McNamee.

Directed by Robert Bresson.
115 minutes; released 1951.
A priest ministers in a small French village where he is not fully appreciated by his parishioners. Based on a novel by Georges Bernanos. In French with optional English subtitles.

Directed by Paul Schrader.
116 minutes; released 2005.
This movie traces the story of Father Lankester Merrin back to his first encounter with the Devil in post-WWII Africa. Father Merrin encounters the demon Pazuzu years before he helps save Regan MacNeil's soul. This initial battle with Pazuzu leads to the rediscovery of his faith.

Directed by Leandro Castellani.
113 minutes; released 1988.
A dramatization of the life of the nineteenth-century Italian priest, St. John Bosco, who worked to rescue the homeless children of Turin and founded the Salesian religious order.

Directed by Julien Duvivier.
217 minutes; released 1952.
A Catholic priest clashes with the Communist mayor in an Italian town in the 1950s. Based on the short stories of Giovanni Guareschi. In English only.

Directed by Giulio Base et al.
50-minute episodes; released 2000.
An Italian parish priest with extraordinary intuition and a deep understanding of the human soul solves crimes. Starring Terrence Hill. In Italian with English subtitles.

Directed by John Patrick Shanley.
103 minutes; released 2008.
In the early 1960s a charismatic priest tries tries to make changes in a parish school run by a disciplinarian nun who suspects the priest of engaging in an immoral relationship with a student.

Directed by Scott Derrickson.
122 minutes; released 2005.
A priest is put on trial for negligent homicide after the death of a young girl believed to be possessed by a demon.

Directed by William Friedkin.
122 minutes; released 1973.
Two versions of the classic movie about two very different priests who help an adolescent girl suffering from demonic possession.

Directed by Renny Harlin.
113 minutes; released 2004.
In this movie, Mr. Merrin, a lapsed Catholic priest is summoned to East Africa in 1949 to retrieve a demonic idol. He discovers a buried church, a vast underground cavern, demonic possession, and a legacy of carnage that preys upon guilt-ridden memories from his parish in Nazi-occupied Holland.

Directed by John Boorman.
117 minutes; released 1977.
A priest investigates the death of an exorcist, and helps an adolescent girl suffering from demonic possession.

Directed by William Peter Blatty.
110 minutes; released 1990.
A priest helps a police lieutenant investigating a series of bizarre religious murders.

Directed by Robert Tronson et al.
52-minute episodes; released 1974.
A Catholic priest solves crimes. Based on the Father Brown mystery short stories of G.K. Chesterton.

Directed by Ken Kennedy.
93 minutes; released 1977.
A feature-length movie dramatization of the life of Father Eusebio Francisco Kino, a Jesuit missionary who worked in California. Starring Richard Egan and Ricardo Montalban.

Directed by Declan Lowney and Andy De Emmony.
25-minute episodes; released 1995.
A television comedy series about three priests working in a parish on a tiny island off the Irish coast.

Directed by Leo McCarey.
127 minutes; released 1944.
A young priest is assigned to a tough city parish with an old cantankerous pastor.

Directed by Felix Feist.
87 minutes; released 1950.
A dramatization of the court trial of the Hungarian Cardinal Jozsef Mindszenty for treason against the Communist government.

Directed by Steve Beaumont.
60 minutes; released 2009.
G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown attempts to get to the bottom of a strange case in a mysterious Scottish castle.

Directed by Irvin Kershner.
102 minutes; released 1961.
Based on the true story of Father Charles Dismas Clark, a Jesuit priest who dedicated his life to working with former convicts in St. Louis. Starring Don Murray and Keir Dullea.

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
94 minutes; released 1953.
A priest hears a murderer's confession and then is himself accused of the murder. Based on a play by Paul Bourde. Starring Montgomery Clift, Anne Baxter, and Karl Malden.

Directed by Fred Holmes.
97 minutes; released 2002.
A one-man dramatization of the life of St. Ignatius, founder of the Jesuits. Starring Michael Bellafiore.

Directed by K. C. Lynch.
60 minutes; released 1997.
A dramatization of the life of the Spanish priest who worked with St. Teresa of Avila to reform the Carmelite Order.

Directed by Jon Purdy.
90 minutes; released 2002.
Two priests react in different ways to a man who moves to a small American town where his selfless love for others bewilders people.

Directed by John M. Stahl.
137 minutes; released 1944.
A young priest is sent to China where he encounters hostility, isolation, disease, poverty and a variety of other setbacks. Starring Gregory Peck.

Produced by EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network).
90 minutes; released 1996.
A dramatization of the life of the young French army officer who became a hermit and was martyred in the Sahara Desert.

Produced by Saint Luke Productions and Ignatius Press.
76 minutes; released 1995.
Leonardo Defilippis' one-man dramatization of the life of St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish priest who was martyred by the Nazis.

Directed by Ladislao Vajda.
90 minutes; released 1955.
A little boy is left on the doorstep of a monastery as a baby and is raised by the monks.

Directed by Luigi Comencini.
92 minutes; released 1991.
Colour re-make of the 1955 original (above), but usually not considered to be on the same level.

Directed by Roland Joffé.
125 minutes; released 1986.
Jesuit missionaries in the jungles of late eighteenth century Brazil try to protect the indigenous people from slave-traders. Starring Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons.

Directed by Paul Cox.
113 minutes; released 1999.
A dramatization of the life of Blessed Damien de Veuster, the priest who worked with lepers in Hawaii.

Directed by Maurice Cloche.
114 minutes; released 1947.
A feature-length movie about the life of Saint Vincent de Paul, the 17th century French priest who devoted himself to the poor, sick and abandoned.

Directed by Malcolm Mowbray and David Wheatley.
232 minutes; released 2000.
The faith of a priest is tested as he is drawn towards the French Resistance during World War II. Starring John Thaw.

Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud.
131 minutes; released 1986.
Investigating the deaths of two monks, a visiting brother discovers a secret library containing rare books considered lost to the world and dangerous to the Catholic faith.

Directed by Luis Buñuel.
92 minutes; released 1959.
A simple priest tries to live a pure and honest life according to the Christian virtues, but is shown distrust and hatred by those around him. In Spanish with optional English subtitles.

Directed by Jean-Marie Benjamin.
90 minutes; released 1995.
A dramatization of the life of St. Pio of Pietrelcina, an Italian priest who received the stigmata.

Directed by Volker Schlöndorff.
93 minutes; released 2004.
A priest imprisoned by the Nazis at Dachau is temporarily released in order to convince his bishop to stop his passive resistance. In German with optional English subtitles.

Directed by Duncan Wood and Johnny Downes.
30-minute episodes; released 1968.
A television series about the priests of Mountacres Priory who are challenged by the well-meaning but accident-prone Brother Dominic.

Directed by Robert Marcarelli.
54 minutes; released 1997.
A dramatization of the life of St. Paul the Apostle.

Directed by Robert Day.
194 minutes; released 1981.
A televison mini-series dramatization of events from the lives of the Apostles Peter and Paul. Starring Anthony Hopkins and Robert Foxworth.

Directed by Peter Glenville.
94 minutes; released 1955.
A cardinal imprisoned in a Communist country is subjected to relentless interrogation by a psychologist. Starring Alec Guinness.

Directed by Edward Dmytryk.
105 minutes; released 1962.
A dramatization of the life of St. Joseph of Cupertino, patron saint of those studying for examinations. Starring Maximilian Schell and Ricardo Montalban.

Directed by Hans-Christian Schmid.
89 minutes; released 2006.
Two German priests try to help a female university student who believes that she is possessed by demons. In German with English subtitles.

Directed by John Duigan.
105 minutes; released 1989.
A dramatization of the life of Oscar Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador who was assassinated in 1980. Starring Raul Julia.

Directed by Umberto Marino.
95 minutes; released 2002.
A dramatization of the life of Saint Anthony, the young Portuguese nobleman who became a Franciscan monk and preached across Africa and Europe. Starring Daniele Liotti. In Italian with optional English subtitles.

Directed by Dan Curtis.
92 minutes; released 1986.
A one-man dramatization in which the 86 year old Apostle John reflects on his encounter with Jesus Christ. Starring Dean Jones.

Directed by Robert Hughes.
90 minutes; released 2000.
A feature-length movie based on the life of the world-famous Irish hero. Starring Patrick Bergin, Malcolm McDowell and Alan Bates.

Directed by John Llewellyn Moxey.
98 minutes; released 1979.
A priest helps an aspiring actress who is plagued by a string of mysterious incidents. Based on the Father Brown character created by G. K. Chesterton.

Directed by Jerry London.
156 minutes; released 1983.
An Irish priest working in the Vatican aids escaped POWs and other refugees in Nazi occupied Rome during the Second World War. Based on the true-life story of Monsignor Hugh O'Flagherty. Starring Gregory Peck, Christopher Plummer and Sir John Gielgud.

Directed by Robert D. Webb.
103 minutes; released 1955.
An historical drama about Spanish rule in California in 1769, and the efforts of Father Junipero Serra to establish missions and encourage peaceful relations with the Indians.

Directed by Michael Anderson.
162 minutes; released 1968.
A feature-length movie about a fictional Russian pope who attempts to avert a conflict between Communist Russia and Communist China by declaring that the Church's wealth should alleviate the world's starving people and challenges other institutions to do the same. Starring Anthony Quinn.

Directed by Jeannot Szwarc.
74 minutes; released 1974.
An old priest helps a young boy in Assisi who wants to take his dying donkey to be cured at the tomb of St. Francis, but is refused. Starring Vittorio De Sica and Marco Della Carva.

Directed by Agnieszka Holland.
118 minutes; released 1999.
A priest who has lost his faith must investigate the possible sanctity of a dead woman. Based on the novel by Richard Vetere. Starring Ed Harris, Anne Heche and Armin Mueller-Stahl.

Directed by Daryl Duke.
487 minutes; released 1983.
The story of a priest torn between his love for God and his love for a beautiful girl, spanning five decades of ambition, fear, longing and revenge, and set against the vast horizons of the Australian outback.

Directed by Kevin James Dobson.
179 minutes; released 1996.
A priest returns to Australia where he finds the woman he loves embroiled in a bitter child custody battle with her husband.

Directed by Agnieszka Holland.
117 minutes; released 1988.
A dramatization of the life of Father Jerzy Popielusko, the Polish priest who was murdered by the Communist authorities on account of his support of the Solidarity union.

Directed by Ulu Grosbard.
108 minutes; released 1981.
Two brothers, a policeman and a priest, find their worlds colliding amidst a flurry of political finger-pointing and public outcries over a scandalous, headline-making murder. Starring Robert De Niro and Robert Duvall.

Directed by Kirby Dick.
87 minutes; released 2004.
A man confronts the trauma of past sexual abuse by a priest, only to find his decision shatters his relationship with his family and his faith.