Madeleine McCann: Adopted by Angelina Jolie, And The Changeling
MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann, Kate McCann and Gerry McCann
DAILY MAIL: “A mother leaves her child while she goes out – and returns to an empty house. No, not the McCann case but the true story behind a gripping new film”
Fact. Fiction. Can you spot the difference?
She was a devoted mother, hard-working, determined and tough. Then, one spring morning, Christine Collins kissed her little child goodbye (leaving him under the eye of neighbours), before returning in the evening to an empty house. Her beloved son had vanished without a trace.
A continent-wide hunt was launched and a shocked nation was kept agog by a string of leads – only for their hopes to be cruelly dashed as each clue led to a dead end.
The child was never seen again, the mother was heartbroken and the community was left divided by suspicion and mistrust.
Terrible. Just terrible. Does it work out in the end?
It could be the tragic story of Kate and Gerry McCann and their three-year-old daughter, Madeleine, who was abducted last year while on holiday in Portugal, and who remains missing to this day.
It could be, albeit with better lighting, a decent cast and a 15 certificate… Gone, Baby, Gone…
But, in fact, it is the plot of Clint Eastwood’s latest film, Changeling, which opens in Britain later this month.
But it’s all false, right? Angelina Jolie is only acting, right? Unless she adopted Madeleine?
It is all the more powerful because it is based on a horrific true story. The so-called ‘Wineville chicken coop murders’ took place on the outskirts of Los Angeles in 1928.
And while they happened 80 years before Maddie McCann disappeared, there are startling parallels between the two.
The McCanns’ grim experience in Praia de Luz – and how they were made suspects by bungling local police – was widely reported.
But Christine Collins suffered even worse treatment at the hands of the LA Police Department. As the investigation into her missing child failed to yield results, she was even locked up in a mental asylum.
It’s enough to drive you maaaaad. Maaaaad, I tell yer…
As in the McCann case, rumour followed rumour.
Each one recorded for posterity…
Posted: 8th, November 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews Comments (853) | TrackBack | Permalink
