'Changeling': Fact behind the Fiction
‘Changeling’, Clint Eastwood’s latest effort starring Angelina Jolie and John Malkovich, is based on the sad tale of Christine Collins, a woman whose son was murdered and replaced by another child in a horrific case of LAPD corruption. In this special feature, we will investigate how closely Eastwood stayed to the true story.
See the FILM REVIEW for background to the film
The film’s main characters are largely reproduced faithfully, allowing of course for artistic embellishments and dramatisations. Christine Collins, Walter Collins, Arthur Hutchins, Reverend Gustav Briegleb, Captain J.J. Jones, Captain James E. Davis, the attorney S.S. Hahn, Gordon Northcott and Sanford Clark were all real characters.
Despite the paucity of material on the personalities involved in this 1928 case, it appears that at least Jones, Briegleb, Hahn and Northcott were characterised faithfully. Captain Jones (Jeffrey Donovan) was indeed a callous police captain who operated under Chief James “Two Guns” Davis of the LAPD, itself an institution that was corrupt, brutal, violent and murderous. Davis’ men were licensed, indeed, encouraged to shoot to kill anyone in the act of committing a crime. They were in fact a gang of hitmen with badges, a legitimised posse of gunslingers carrying out personal vendettas and selling their protection to the city’s criminals. Adverse publicity made the LAPD anxious for a quick PR success, hence their intolerance of Christine’s dissent. Christine Collins filed a civil suit against Jones for incompetence, apparently winning $10,800, although it is unclear whether the money was actually paid out. Chief Davis was dismissed, but later reappointed by the equally corrupt (or at the very least, incompetent) Mayor of LA, Frank Shaw.
Click here for a behind the scenes video
ARTICLE CONTINUES with a behind the scenes video
See the FILM REVIEW for background to the film
The Characters
The film’s main characters are largely reproduced faithfully, allowing of course for artistic embellishments and dramatisations. Christine Collins, Walter Collins, Arthur Hutchins, Reverend Gustav Briegleb, Captain J.J. Jones, Captain James E. Davis, the attorney S.S. Hahn, Gordon Northcott and Sanford Clark were all real characters.
Despite the paucity of material on the personalities involved in this 1928 case, it appears that at least Jones, Briegleb, Hahn and Northcott were characterised faithfully. Captain Jones (Jeffrey Donovan) was indeed a callous police captain who operated under Chief James “Two Guns” Davis of the LAPD, itself an institution that was corrupt, brutal, violent and murderous. Davis’ men were licensed, indeed, encouraged to shoot to kill anyone in the act of committing a crime. They were in fact a gang of hitmen with badges, a legitimised posse of gunslingers carrying out personal vendettas and selling their protection to the city’s criminals. Adverse publicity made the LAPD anxious for a quick PR success, hence their intolerance of Christine’s dissent. Christine Collins filed a civil suit against Jones for incompetence, apparently winning $10,800, although it is unclear whether the money was actually paid out. Chief Davis was dismissed, but later reappointed by the equally corrupt (or at the very least, incompetent) Mayor of LA, Frank Shaw.
Click here for a behind the scenes video
ARTICLE CONTINUES with a behind the scenes video
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