John DeLorean in Color

John DeLorean, the protean. larger-than-life designer of the eponymous, gull-winged car, lived his life on an epic scale. Telling that story cinematically has been the quest of many a filmmaker, with most having only unproduced scripts to show for their efforts. Filmmakers Don Argott and Sheena M. Joyce, along with DeLorean historian and enthusiast Tamir Ardon, have come up with a way of telling the DeLorean story that is as innovative and iconoclastic as the man himself.  Using archival materials, recreations that employ a slew of familiar faces, and behind-the-scenes, making-of footage in which the actors opine about the people they portray, FRAMING JOHN DELOREAN becomes a triple-threat of a documentary that is both enlightening and entertaining. When I spoke with Argott, Joyce, and Ardon on June 2, 2019, it was ahead of the SFDocFest screening that evening at the Roxie Theater here in SF.

The full interview will post closer to the film’s theatrical release, but for now, here are Argott and Ardon explaining why Alec Baldwin, as DeLorean, wearing particular shirt is part of the meticulous care they took in recreating scenes from DeLorean’s life, and getting people who have never before spoken about his arrest and trial on film.  And the inspiration for that particular item of clothing, which Ardon is showing us via the photo on his phone of him and DeLorean, who is wearing a pink polo shirt.