Presbyterian pastor portrayed in new Clint Eastwood film

WALTON, KY — John Malkovich plays Presbyterian minister the Rev. Dr. Gustav Briegleb in Clint Eastwood’s new film Changeling.

The film tells the story of how in 1928 the minister came to the aid of Christine Collins, a mother who was wrongly imprisoned in a psychiatric ward because she insisted that the boy whom the police had returned to her was not her kidnapped nine-year-old son, Walter.

Fearful of being discredited in the eyes of the public, L.A. Police Captain J. J. Jones brushed aside Collins’ objections as signs of a confused woman out of touch with reality. Pressured by him, she took the boy home, but continued to protest the mistaken identity.

The captain then had Collins arrested and committed to the psychiatric ward of L.A. General Hospital where her treatment was anything but gentle or understanding. Although one examining physician declared her normal, and a woman who had taken care of Walter also said the boy claiming to be him was an imposter, the captain continued to assert that Collins was delusional. …

…Brieglieb and Shuler were community activists and partners in challenging the vice and crime of the city and the corruption of the police and city officials.

In the film, Briegleb is first seen preaching to his St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church congregation about the kidnapping of Walter, mentioning that he has kept the distraught mother and her boy in his prayers. …