The years 1928-1930 presented some troubling times for the citizens of California, particularly those in the Los Angeles area and Wineville (now Mira Loma) community. During those past years, a series of horrendous abductions and murders took place by a man known as Gordon Stewart Northcott. These murders came to be known as the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders and persisted to grow into a broader dilemma as a significant mother, Christine Collins, raised concern over her missing son, Walter Collins. To further emphasize the horrors that were unknowingly taking place at the time, the corruption of the late 1920s LAPD put this authority in an even worse state by failing to acknowledge some significant problems in the justice system. The film,
…show more content…
Historically, children were kidnapped and murdered on a chicken ranch by a deranged man named Gordon Stewart Northcott. He was, in fact, accompanied by his young relative Sanford Clark. However, the film fails to mention some of the extra details of the case. To illustrate this, the movie’s screenplay alters the relations between each of the Northcott family members which distorts the true story. As stated in the film, Sanford is Gordon’s cousin. In real life, Sanford Clark was Gordon’s nephew (Abramowitz, 2008). Although that fact alone doesn’t make a huge difference in the grand scheme of events, the way film makers continue to omit or alter people’s roles from the true story makes all the …show more content…
The issues in the film the police department was dealing with at the time of Walter Collins’ abduction were problems the real LAPD had in history. The film presents genuine issues that people living in California at that time could have had with the justice system and law enforcement. Historically around the early 20th century, the LAPD had numerous issues with corruption within the force, harsh gun policies, and police scandals (Rasmussen, 1999a). The LAPD was truly having such hard time with their reputation that re-opening the case of one missing child, who was presumably already found, seemed insignificant and embarrassing. The film stayed true to history on this account and to further their credibility, the character of Police Chief James E. Davis, recites part of an actual speech originally spoken by the real police chief at the time. According to the official website of the Los Angeles Police Department, Police Chief Davis was known for forming a “50 man ‘gun squad’” and reprimanding “‘any officer who shows the least mercy to a criminal’” (“The LAPD: 1926-1950”, 2016). He wanted criminals brought in “‘dead not alive’” (“The LAPD: 1926-1950”, 2016), just as stated in the movie Due to the harsh stance Chief Davis took on
Historically, children were kidnapped and murdered on a chicken ranch by a deranged man named Gordon Stewart Northcott. He was, in fact, accompanied by his young relative Sanford Clark. However, the film fails to mention some of the extra details of the case. To illustrate this, the movie’s screenplay alters the relations between each of the Northcott family members which distorts the true story. As stated in the film, Sanford is Gordon’s cousin. In real life, Sanford Clark was Gordon’s nephew (Abramowitz, 2008). Although that fact alone doesn’t make a huge difference in the grand scheme of events, the way film makers continue to omit or alter people’s roles from the true story makes all the …show more content…
The issues in the film the police department was dealing with at the time of Walter Collins’ abduction were problems the real LAPD had in history. The film presents genuine issues that people living in California at that time could have had with the justice system and law enforcement. Historically around the early 20th century, the LAPD had numerous issues with corruption within the force, harsh gun policies, and police scandals (Rasmussen, 1999a). The LAPD was truly having such hard time with their reputation that re-opening the case of one missing child, who was presumably already found, seemed insignificant and embarrassing. The film stayed true to history on this account and to further their credibility, the character of Police Chief James E. Davis, recites part of an actual speech originally spoken by the real police chief at the time. According to the official website of the Los Angeles Police Department, Police Chief Davis was known for forming a “50 man ‘gun squad’” and reprimanding “‘any officer who shows the least mercy to a criminal’” (“The LAPD: 1926-1950”, 2016). He wanted criminals brought in “‘dead not alive’” (“The LAPD: 1926-1950”, 2016), just as stated in the movie Due to the harsh stance Chief Davis took on