Father James Lord (Harold Hansen) died on Ash Wednesday. He was in the hospital on life support when someone unplugged him. Father Lord was affiliated with the Holy Redeemer parish in Detroit, Michigan. Also with the parish are Father Ted Nabors (Charles Durning) and Father Robert Koesler (Donald Sutherland).
Not long after the funeral, Father Koesler is approached by Sister Ann Peschal who tells him that she has fallen in love and is leaving the convent to get married. Later that night Sister Paschal is murdered. Then Father Donald Dailey (Sam Pollack) is murdered while in the confessional. In each case, the deceased was found with a black rosary entwined in their fingers.
Police Lieutenant Koznicki (Josef Sommer) is stuck trying to figure out who is responsible for the murders. He asks Father Koesler for help. A reporter who broke the story, Pat Lennon (Belinda Bauer), while investigating, also tries to help. Koesler then hears about another nun, Mother Jeanne Honora, who was murdered. Once again, she is found clutching a black rosary.
Father Koesler wants to help, but the next time he is in the confessional he is visited by the killer. The unidentified man tells Father Koesler that the church is responsible for the death of his daughter three years ago. As the murders continue, Father Koesler is torn between wanting to bring the killer to justice and the sanctity of the confessional. At the moment, the only way Koesler can help is to try to identify who the murderer actually is and try to talk them out of continuing their revenge.
“The Rosary Murders” was released in 1987 and was directed by Fred Walton. It is an American murder mystery thriller that was based on the 1979 novel by William X. Kienzle.
Writer William Kienzle was a native of Detroit, Michigan. He became a priest in 1954 and remained one for twenty years. He left the priesthood in 1974 due to a disagreement with the church’s position on divorced parishioners not being able to remarry. Kienzle wrote twenty-four crime novels based on the Father Robert Koesler character.
The movie was good but a little slow at times but that kind of adds to the mystery. The neo-noir aspects of the movie expose the great writing by William Kienzle as well as the subsequent collaboration between Elmore Leonard and Director Fred Walton on the screenplay.
The suggested romance between Father Koesler and Pat Lennon, the reporter, is forced and not needed for the plot, especially since the book had no such romance.
Much of the film centers around the real Holy Redeemer parish in Detroit, Michigan. Both exterior and interior shots of the parish were used in the film. Other actual buildings and sites, such as St. Leo Catholic Church, the Detroit Riverfront Walk, and the Pegasus Tavern, were used in the film.