Clerical Sleuths in the Movies and on TV
by Devinm1978 | created - 04 Sep 2021 | updated - 1 month ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Absolution (1978)
R | 95 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Two boys try to drive a strict priest mad with their confessed sins at a boarding school in England.
Director: Anthony Page | Stars: Richard Burton, Dominic Guard, David Bradley, Billy Connolly
Votes: 1,898
2.
Armchair Thriller (1978–1981)
Episode:
Quiet as a Nun: Part 1: The Tower
(1978)
180 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
A reporter is asked to look into the mysterious death of a nun who died in a locked room at a convent.
Director: Moira Armstrong | Stars: Maria Aitken, Renée Asherson, Brenda Bruce, David Burke
Votes: 75
The nuns aren't the actual sleuths, but they do assist one of their former convent students who is investigating a crime that occurred there. Anyone who enjoys clerical sleuths will like this serial, which aired as part of "Armchair Thriller." There are five additional episodes: "Part 2: The Chapel" "Part 3: The Black Nun" "Part 4: Witness and Wills" "Part 5: Powers of Darkness" "Part 6: Death and Decision"
3. Black Death (2010)
R | 102 min | Action, Drama, History
Set during the time of the first outbreak of bubonic plague in England, a young monk is given the task of learning the truth about reports of people being brought back to life in a small village.
Director: Christopher Smith | Stars: Eddie Redmayne, Sean Bean, Carice van Houten, Kimberley Nixon
Votes: 51,250 | Gross: $0.02M
4. The Danedyke Mystery (1979– )
30 min | Thriller
In the village of Danedyke St Mary the Reverend Septimus Treloar, a former Chief Inspector, investigates mysterious goings on linked to his church.
Stars: Michael Craig, John Rhys-Davies, Tessa Peake-Jones, Kenneth Colley
Votes: 11
5. The Detective (1954)
Approved | 91 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Works of art are disappearing, stolen by a master thief, a master of disguise. Father Brown has two goals: to catch the thief and to save his soul.
Director: Robert Hamer | Stars: Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood, Peter Finch, Cecil Parker
Votes: 1,664
6. Don Matteo (2000– )
TV-G | 50 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Terence Hill stars as Don Matteo, a thoroughly ordinary Catholic priest with an extraordinary ability to read people and solve crimes. He's a parish priest who never met an unjustly accused person he didn't want to help.
Stars: Nino Frassica, Nathalie Guettà, Francesco Scali, Terence Hill
Votes: 1,472
7. Fatal Confession: A Father Dowling Mystery (1987 TV Movie)
100 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Frank Dowling has to solve the mystery of a young man who is obsessed with finding his natural parents.
Director: Christopher Hibler | Stars: Tom Bosley, Tracy Nelson, Robert Prescott, Mary Wickes
Votes: 230
TV movie that was followed two years later by the TV series "Father Dowling Mysteries"
8. Father Brown (1974)
TV-14 | 668 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Based on the stories of G.K. Chesterton, a British Catholic Priest solves mysteries.
Stars: Kenneth More, Dennis Burgess, Graham Crowden, Bill Maynard
Votes: 479
9. Father Brown (2013– )
TV-PG | 52 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
In the early 1950s, Father Brown, a Roman Catholic priest based in the fictional Cotswold village of Kembleford, uses his distinctive skills to solve various crimes.
Stars: Mark Williams, John Burton, Sorcha Cusack, Jack Deam
Votes: 15,024
10. Father Brown, Detective (1934)
Unrated | 68 min | Mystery
Father Brown is trying to stop a known theft taking 10 diamonds and showing he is wrong in the eyes of god.
Director: Edward Sedgwick | Stars: Walter Connolly, Paul Lukas, Gertrude Michael, Robert Loraine
Votes: 75
11. Father Dowling Mysteries (1989–1991)
TV-PG | 45 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
An amiable, inquisitive Chicago priest moonlights as a detective and is assisted by a rather worldly, lock-picking nun.
Stars: Tom Bosley, Tracy Nelson, Mary Wickes, James Stephens
Votes: 2,137
12. The Golden Gate Murders (1979 TV Movie)
104 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
In San Francisco, a police detective, aided by a Catholic nun, investigates the case of a priest who falls to his death from the Golden Gate bridge.
Director: Walter Grauman | Stars: David Janssen, Susannah York, Paul Coufos, Tim O'Connor
Votes: 263
13. Grantchester (2014–2025)
TV-14 | 45 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A Cambridgeshire clergyman finds himself investigating a series of mysterious wrongdoings in his small village of Grantchester.
Stars: Robson Green, Tessa Peake-Jones, Al Weaver, Kacey Ainsworth
Votes: 17,194
14. Lanigan's Rabbi (1976–1977)
90 min | Drama, Crime
Police Chief Paul Lanigan and David Small, a rabbi in Cameron, California, are friends and both solve crimes in the local town. They also spent many evenings socializing but the wives ... See full summary »
Stars: Art Carney, Janis Paige, Janet Margolin, Barbara Carney
Votes: 58
15.
Lights Out (1946–1952)
Episode:
The Lost Will of Dr. Rant
(1951)
30 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A dear old woman is supposed to inherit the fortune of her uncle, Dr. John Rant, as soon as she finds his will. He tells her only that it's in a book and that she probably won't recognize ... See full summary »
Director: Laurence Schwab Jr. | Stars: Leslie Nielsen, Russell Collins, Pat Englund, Eva Condon
Votes: 49
16. Mystery!: Cadfael (1994–1998)
TV-14 | 983 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The medieval era cases of a Crusader-turned-Monk who investigates mysteries in the Norman English town of Shrewsbury.
Stars: Derek Jacobi, Michael Culver, Julian Firth, Terrence Hardiman
Votes: 3,114
17. The Name of the Rose (1986)
R | 130 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
An intellectually nonconformist friar investigates a series of mysterious deaths in an isolated abbey.
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud | Stars: Sean Connery, Christian Slater, Helmut Qualtinger, Elya Baskin
Votes: 117,278 | Gross: $7.15M
18. The Name of the Rose (2019)
TV-MA | 60 min | Drama, History, Mystery
In 1327, an enlightened friar and his young apprentice investigate a series of mysterious deaths at an abbey risking the wrath of a powerful Inquisitor. Television adaptation of Umberto Eco's novel 'The Name of the Rose'.
Stars: John Turturro, Rupert Everett, Damian Hardung, Fabrizio Bentivoglio
Votes: 4,458
19. The Order (2003)
R | 102 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A young priest is sent to Rome to investigate the troubling death of the head of his order.
Director: Brian Helgeland | Stars: Heath Ledger, Mark Addy, Shannyn Sossamon, Benno Fürmann
Votes: 18,470 | Gross: $7.66M
20. Paradise Postponed (1986)
569 min | Drama
A clergyman, famous for his support of left-wing causes, dies, and surprises his family by leaving a great deal of money to a Conservative Member of Parliament. Why?
Stars: Annette Crosbie, Paul Shelley, Peter Egan, David Threlfall
Votes: 141
21. Pater Brown (1966–1972)
Crime
Stars: Josef Meinrad, Ernst Fritz Fürbringer, Guido Wieland, Eduard Linkers
Votes: 68
German adaptation of G.K. Chesterton's "Father Brown" stories
22. Pelagiya i belyy buldog (2009)
Adventure, Crime, Mystery
The action takes place in Russia at the end of the 19th century, in the fictional Trans-Volga province. The synodal inspector Bubentsov comes from the capital to the provincial center, the ... See full summary »
Stars: Aleksandr Feklistov, Polina Kutepova, Timofey Tribuntsev, Aleksandr Golubev
Votes: 89
Russian adaptation of the Boris Akunin novel "Sister Pelagia and the White Bulldog"
23. Pfarrer Braun (2003–2014)
90 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Curate Guido Braun is a slightly unconventional Catholic priest from Bavaria. Mundane bishop Himmelrath and his equally ambitious right hand keep posting Braun in different parishes all ... See full summary »
Stars: Ottfried Fischer, Peter Heinrich Brix, Hans-Michael Rehberg, Gilbert von Sohlern
Votes: 202
24. The Priest (I) (2021)
140 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A priest and a police officer are trying to solve a set of mysterious suicides. As their investigation closes in, they discover another crime with even farther-reaching consequences.
Director: Jofin T. Chacko | Stars: Mammootty, Nikhila Vimal, Manju Warrier, Baby Monika Siva
Votes: 8,033
25. Pure (2017–2019)
TV-MA | 60 min | Drama
"Pure" tells the story of Noah Funk, a newly-elected Mennonite pastor, who is determined to rid his community of drug traffickers by betraying a fellow Mennonite to the police.
Stars: Ryan Robbins, Alex Paxton-Beesley, Jessica Clement, Dylan Everett
Votes: 1,232
26. I racconti di Padre Brown (1970– )
55 min | Drama, Mystery
Stars: Renato Rascel, Arnoldo Foà, Vittorio Fanfoni, Enrico Ribulsi
Votes: 20
Italian adaptation of G.K. Chesterton's "Father Brown" stories
27. The Reckoning (2003)
R | 112 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A priest on the lam takes up with a traveling band of actors, who then discover a murder has occurred and try to solve it by recreating the crime in a play.
Director: Paul McGuigan | Stars: Willem Dafoe, Paul Bettany, Marián Aguilera, Trevor Steedman
Votes: 6,398 | Gross: $0.26M
28. The Rosary Murders (1987)
R | 105 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A priest is put in a dilemma when the serial killer who has been murdering priests and nuns confesses to him.
Director: Fred Walton | Stars: Donald Sutherland, Charles Durning, Belinda Bauer, Josef Sommer
Votes: 1,696 | Gross: $1.73M
29. Sanctuary of Fear (1979 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 100 min | Mystery, Thriller
A Manhattan priest with a penchant for solving crimes goes to the aid of a young actress. She is becoming enmeshed in a series of bizarre incidents she can't explain, and her complaints to the police have gone ignored.
Director: John Llewellyn Moxey | Stars: Barnard Hughes, Michael McGuire, George Hearn, Robert Schenkkan
Votes: 73
30. Sarge (1971–1972)
60 min | Drama
Samuel "Sarge" Cavanaugh is a priest at the St. Aloysius Parish in San Diego, California. He is known as Sarge because of his police background of working for nine years as a homicide ... See full summary »
Stars: George Kennedy, Ramon Bieri, Sallie Shockley, Harold Sakata
Votes: 77
31. Sei delitti per padre Brown (1988– )
540 min
Stars: Emrys James, Fabio Testi, Catherine Spaak, Gianni Garko
Italian adaptation of G.K. Chesterton's "Father Brown" stories
32. Sister Boniface Mysteries (2022– )
TV-PG | 45 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
The investigations of Sister Boniface of St Vincent's Convent - nun, moped rider, wine maker and part-time forensic scientist.
Stars: Lorna Watson, Max Brown, Jerry Iwu, Ami Metcalf
Votes: 3,373
33. Sorceress (1987)
Unrated | 97 min | Drama, History
A Dominican friar visits a 13th-century French village in search of heretics. Despite the opposition of the local priest and the indifference of the villagers, he finds a seemingly perfect ... See full summary »
Director: Suzanne Schiffman | Stars: Tchéky Karyo, Christine Boisson, Jean Carmet, Raoul Billerey
Votes: 235
34. Thunder on the Hill (1951)
Passed | 84 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Convicted murderess Valerie Carns (Ann Blyth) is being transported to Norwich to be executed when a flood strands her and her guards at a convent hospital. Nurse Sister Mary (Claudette ... See full summary »
Director: Douglas Sirk | Stars: Claudette Colbert, Ann Blyth, Robert Douglas, Anne Crawford
Votes: 1,287
35. The Tractate Middoth (2013 TV Movie)
35 min | Mystery, Thriller
On his deathbed vicar Rant makes a secret confession to his niece Mary Simpson. Some twenty years later young librarian William Garrett is asked by elderly John Eldred to locate a book ... See full summary »
Director: Mark Gatiss | Stars: Louise Jameson, John Castle, Eleanor Bron, David Ryall
Votes: 649
36. The Treasure of Abbot Thomas (1974 TV Movie)
37 min | Horror, Mystery
The Reverend Justin Somerton, a scholar of Medieval history, and his protégé Lord Peter Dattering are visiting an Abbey library. Studying a stained glass window they uncover clues leading to a treasure hidden by a disgraced Abbot.
Director: Lawrence Gordon Clark | Stars: Sheila Dunn, Anne Blake, Frank Mills, Virginia Balfour
Votes: 717
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