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The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags have been used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.
For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for Changeling can be found here.
No. Changeling is an original screenplay by Hollywood writer/producer J. Michael Straczynski. The story is based on true events that occurred in Los Angeles during the 1920s.
The film is based upon the kidnapping of 9-year old Walter Collins in a case that became known as the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders. Walter disappeared from his home in Mt. Washington, Los Angeles on March 10, 1928 and was found five months later in DeKalb, Illinois. When Walter was returned to his mother, Christine Collins, she insisted that the boy was not her son. The L.A. police tried to convince Christine that the boy was indeed her son, but when she continued to allege he was not, she was placed in an insane asylum. She was later released, but only after "Walter", who was really 12-year old Arthur Hutchins, Jr., a runaway from Illinois, confessed that he was not Christine's son and that he claimed to be Walter so that he could get a free trip to California. Gordon Stewart Northcott, aided by his mother Louisa Northcott, was eventually convicted of the kidnapping, molestation, murder, and dismemberment of a number of boys in 1928. In February, 1929, after a trial of 27 days, Northcott was found guilty of killing Lewis Winslow, 12, and his brother, Nelson Winslow, 10, along with an unidentified Mexican boy. Northcott was sentenced to be hanged. The sentence was carried out 2 October 1930. Walter's body was never found. The Los Angeles police were also involved in a scandal as a result of this case due to their closing the case and refusal to accept Christine's continued admonitions that the boy was not her son.A book, Nothing is Strange with You: The Life and Crimes of Gordon Stewart Northcott (2008) by James Jeffrey Paul, was written about the events of this case. The film Changeling is not based upon this book, nor this book upon it. Both are entirely separate works, and one had no influence upon the otherīs creation. See the historical coverage of the true story behind the Changeling in the Los Angeles Times Archives here, The LA Times Archive here. Link to this page is here.
In European folklore and folk belief, a changeling is the offspring of a fairy, troll, elf or other legendary creature that has been secretly left in the place of a human child. See here for more information regarding the origin of the term changeling.
Upon first laying eyes upon him, Christine (Angelina Jolie) knew that the boy was not Walter, but she agreed with the police that he might have changed during the five months of his disappearance and agreed to take him home for a trial run. When she noticed that he was circumcised (Walter was not) and that he was three inches shorter than the growth chart on Walter's wall, she was convinced that she was correct about the boy. Soon, others began to corroborate her claims, e.g., Walter's dentist confirmed that the teeth of the changling did not match those of Walter, Walter's teacher confirmed that the changling was not the same student she had in her class five months ago. Still, the police would not listen to her.
Christine learns that one of the captive boys has been found. He relates a story of how two other boys, including Walter, broke out of the chicken coop. Walter returned to help him escape, and the three of them ran for their freedom. Christine takes that as hope that her son is still alive somewhere.
"Following the hearings, Captain Jones was suspended, Chief Davis was demoted and Mayor Cryer chose not to run for re-election. For the rest of his life, Reverend Briegleb used his radio show to expose police misconduct and political corruption. To shake free of the scandal, the community of Wineville, California changed its name to Mira Loma. Christine Collins never stopped searching for her son."
No. Press reports continue to incorrectly report the title as "The Changeling", but there is no connection between this movie and other works known as "Changeling" or "The Changeling". For example:The Changeling (2006) is based on the Jacobean tragedy written by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley that was first performed in 1622. The plot outline for this film is "Desperate to break her engagement to a man she does not love Beatrice enlists the help of the servant De Flores." The plot outline for Middleton's Changeling (1998) (also known as "The Changeling") is "Based on the 17th Century play, this modernization finds a young man (Colm O'Maonial) in love with a woman (Amanda Ray-King) who is promised to another (Guy Williams). Pleading with her man-servant (Ian Dury) to murder her pledged, he in turn blackmails her into a night with her. But she switches her maid (Julia Tarnoky) in her bed, which sets off a bloodbath." Although The Changeling (1911), The Changeling (1913), The Changeling (1914) and The Changeling (2002) have no plot outlines in the IMDb, they also appear to be based on the Thomas Middleton and William Rowley play.The Changeling (1980) is a horror film starring George C. Scott. The plot outline for this film is "A man staying at a secluded historical mansion finds his life being haunted by the presence of a specter."Changeling (2008/II) is an independent movie inspired by ye olde English folklore. Back in the day, villagers believed that goblins would steal human babies and leave one of their own goblins behind in its place (which the villagers called "changelings"). Now in the present day, the goblins are still up to their old tricks, and our hero's life starts to make a lot more sense when he discovers he's never been human at all.There are at least two television episodes with the title "The Changeling". In Star Trek: The Changeling (#2.3), "A powerful reconstructed artificially intelligent Earth probe with a murderously twisted imperative comes on to the Enterprise and confuses Capt. Kirk as his creator." In Stargate SG-1: The Changeling (#6.19), "Teal'c is having strange nightmares featuring Apophis in which he is human and a firefighter with the rest of his team alongside him."In print, there is the 1980 fantasy novel Changeling by Roger Zelazny, The Stolen Child, by Keith Donohue, which was inspired by the William Butler Yeats poem "The Stolen Child", and The Changeling (The Wormling) by Jerry B Jenkins and Chris Fabry. None of these novels are connected with this movie.
Christine was using a metaphor to explain to Walter that his father left because did not want to assume the responsibility of taking care of him after he was born.
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