Father James E. Coyle: Life and Legacy is a documentary film which premiered on US television (PBS) in 2021.
James E. Coyle was a Catholic priest who served at a Catholic church in Birmingham, Alabama.
On 11 August 1921, while he was sitting on the porch in front of his home, Father Coyle was killed by a man who walked up to him and fired a gun three times.
This happened only one or two hours after Father Coyle had performed a wedding ceremony for Ruth Stephenson and Pedro Gussman.
The killer Edwin Stephenson, the father of Ruth, was angry, because his daughter had married a man from Puerto Rico who was regarded as a person of color.
Edwin felt he had to do something. Who did he shoot? Neither his daughter nor the man she had just married. He decided to shoot the man who had performed the wedding ceremony!
The topic of this film is the life and legacy of Father James E. Coyle.
Here is some basic information about this film:
** Producers: Edie Hand and Lee John Bruno
** Director: Norton Dill
** Writer: Edie Hand
** Production: Alabama Public Television
** Language: English
** Subtitles: English
** Run time: 26 minutes
Several persons are interviewed in the film.
Here are the names of the participants:
** Sharon Davies – an author
** Sister Mary Vernon Gentle
** Edie Hand – a television producer
** Father Bryan W. Jerabeck
** Ora Jerald
** Jim Pinto – a Catholic priest
** The Honorable William H. Pryor – a judge
** Sharon Tinsley
Some brief historical moments have been reconstructed by four actors. We see Father James Coyle; we see the couple who wants to get married; and we see the killer who is approaching the priest.
James E. Coyle was born in Ireland in 1873. He was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1896. He wanted to serve the Catholic Church in the USA, and his wish was granted. He was sent to Birmingham, Alabama.
Father James E. Coyle was by all accounts a friendly and polite person who tried to help the poor people who came to him seeking assistance.
When Ruth and Pedro asked him to perform a wedding ceremony for them, he agreed to do so.
Ruth was born into a Methodist family in 1903. When she was 12 years old, she began to take an interest in the Catholic faith. When she was 18, she converted to the Catholic faith.
Pedro was born in Puerto Rico in 1877. When he grew up, he moved to the mainland where he found a job decorating homes with wallpaper.
He did a job for Edwin. He came to the home of Edwin. This is how Ruth and Pedro met each other. In 1921, they wanted to get married, but they knew it was not going to be easy.
Edwin Stephenson, the father of Ruth, was a Methodist minister. He did not want his daughter to marry a Catholic man from Puerto Rico.
The couple went to Father James E. Coyle who said he was prepared to marry them.
The wedding ceremony was conducted in the afternoon of 11 August 1921.
One or two hours later, when Edwin heard what had happened, he grabbed his gun and went looking for the man who had performed the wedding ceremony.
Having fired three shots at Father James E. Coyle, he left and surrendered himself to the authorities.
He said he had acted in self-defense. But this claim was hard to believe.
According to an eyewitness, he walked up to the porch and fired three shots. The eyewitness did not see Father James E. Coyle attacking Edwin before the shots were fired.
The killer was arrested and charged with murder. A trial took place later that same year.
The Ku Klux Klan played a significant role in this trial.
(1) The judge was a Klansman
(2) The defendant was a Klansman
(3) Several members of the jury were Klansmen
(4) The Klan paid for the defense
(5) Four of the five lawyers who defended the killer were Klansmen.
(6) The fifth lawyer was a future Klansman. This man - Hugo Black - had an incredible career after this trial was over:
1923-1927 = he was a member of the Klan
1927-1937 = He was a US Senator
1937-1971 = He was a member of the US Supreme Court
The prosecutor Joe Tate was up against powerful forces when he tried to conduct this case.
Hugo Black - Edwin’s lawyer - did not deny the shooting. Instead he claimed Edwin was innocent, because he had experienced a moment of insanity when he learned that his only daughter had married a man from Puerto Rico.
The jury found him not guilty. He was released. They even gave him his gun back.
The Klan hated many groups: African Americans, Jews, and Catholics. The Klan only accepted white people who were Protestants.
What do reviewers say about this film?
This question is not easy to answer
The film is not listed on IMDb
There are no user reviews
The film is not available on Amazon
There are no customer reviews
I like this film, and I want to offer a good rating, but I cannot go all the way to the top, because there are two flaws:
# 1. We are not told what happened to the people who were involved in this case when it was over.
Ruth and Pedro divorced in September 1921. The marriage could not survive the fact that her father had killed the priest who had married them.
Ruth died in 1931.
Pedro died in 1934.
Edwin outlived both of them.
He died in 1956.
# 2. The filmmakers hired four actors to play four roles: the bride and the groom; the killer and the priest.
They chose a young actress to play the role of Ruth. This is fine, because Ruth was born in 1903. She was 18 in 1921.
They chose a young actor to play the role of Pedro. This is most unfortunate, because Pedro was born in 1877. He was 44 in 1921.
The groom was much older than the bride. But when we see them in the film, we see a young woman and a young man.
This film is good but not great. I think it deserves a rating of four stars (80 percent)
REFERENCES
# 1. Items available online
Catholic News service
“Centennial of a murder: The priest, the Klan and a wedding remembered,”
Catholic Review
10 August 2021
Nate Tinner-Williams
“Catholic priest killed by Klan to be memorialized with Mass in August,”
Black Catholic Messenger
17 July 2023
# 2. books
Rising Road:
A True Tale of Love, Race, and Religion in America
By Sharon Davies
2010
Something Bigger
By Sheila Killian
2021
*****
On 11 August 2021,
a mass was held at
St Paul's Cathedral in Birmingham
to honor and commemorate
the 100-year anniversary of
the death of Father James E. Coyle
*****
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