Peter Medak directed The Changeling, a supernatural psychological horror film, written by William Gray and Diana Maddox, and starring George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere, and Melvyn Douglas.
AMOUR: Abandoned, Misunderstood, Overlooked, Underrepresented, Revisited
Grade: B
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Theatrical release poster
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The plot follows an esteemed New York City composer who relocates to a Seattle mansion, which might have been haunted.
The screenplay for The Changeling is based upon events that playwright Russell Hunter (the film’s co-writer) claimed to have experienced while he was living in the Henry Treat Rogers mansion in the Cheesman Park neighborhood of Denver, Colorado.
The film received largely favorable critical reviews. Considered to be a cult film, it is one of the most influential Canadian films of all time.
John Russell, a NYC composer, is vacationing with his wife and daughter upstate when his car gets stuck in snow. While he approaches a roadside phone booth to call for assistance, he witnesses his wife and daughter get struck and killed by an oncoming truck knocked off its path.
The accident prompts him to move to Seattle, where he rents a mansion from the agent of a local historical society, Claire Norman, who tells him that the property has been vacant for years.
Not long after moving in, John begins to experience unexplained phenomena, like a loud banging every morning, or water taps turned and the apparition of a boy drowned in a bathtub.
While there, John discovers that Joseph Carmichael was a crippled and sickly six-year-old who was murdered in 1906 by his father Richard because he was unlikely to reach the age of 21, upon which he would have inherited enormous fortune from his late maternal grandfather. To ensure the inheritance, Richard replaced the dead boy with one procured from a local orphanage and spirited him away to Europe under the pretense of seeking treatment for his condition.
He tries to appease Joseph’s ghost but falls from the second floor as the ghost sets the house on fire. Claire rescues John while Carmichael has a vision of the murder and suffers a fatal heart attack.
The next morning, Joseph’s burnt wheelchair sits amid the ruins of the mansion, while his music box begins playing a lullaby.
Well cast, Scott plays Russell as a rational man facing irrational forces, relying on the built-in anger and demonic power, which are manifest in his presence and voice.
Premiering at the USA Film Festival in Dallas, on March 26, 1980, it was released two days later in the U.S. to critical and moderate commercial success.
Cast
George C. Scott as John Russell
Trish Van Devere as Claire Norman
Melvyn Douglas as Sen. Joseph Carmichael
John Colicos as DeWitt
Jean Marsh as Joanna Russell
Barry Morse as Doctor Pemberton
Madeleine Sherwood as Mrs. Norman
Helen Burns as Leah Harmon
Ruth Springford as Minnie Huxley
Frances Hyland as Mrs. Grey
Eric Christmas as Albert Harmon
Roberta Maxwell as Eva Lingstrom
Bernard Behrens as Robert Lingstrom
James B. Douglas as Eugene Carmichael
Credits:
Directed by Peter Medak
Screenplay by William Gray and Diana Maddox, based on story by Russell Hunter
Produced by Joel B. Michaels, Garth H. Drabinsky, Mario Kassar
Cinematography John Coquillon
Edited by Lilla Pedersen
Music by Rick Wilkins
Production: Chessman Park Productions
Distributed by Pan-Canadian Film Distributors
Release dates: March 26, 1980 (USA Film Fest); March 28, 1980 (US)
Running time: 107 minutes
Budget: $6.6 million
Box office: $12 million
