Fireworks Logo

Trailers...

  • Papi's Pregnant
  • RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under
  • Men at Work Selling Sex Online
  • Fine Young Men
  • World According to Allee Willis (The)
  • Rivals
  • Lord of Wolves
  • Substance (The)
  • Aum Penjor
  • Carnage for Christmas
  • I'm Your Venus
  • Join The Club
  • Under the Moonlight
  • Unusually Normal
  • Long Life to Memories
  • Where in the Hell
  • Secret of the River (The)
  • Tropicana
  • Binding (The)
  • Dead Name
  • Bird
  • E is For:
  • Dying Briefly
  • This Time
  • What Was Your Previous Name?
  • Éden & Charlie
  • Midas Man
  • Merry Gentlemen (The)
  • My Fathers' Daughter
  • Fighting Demons with Dragons
  • Man from Pretentia
  • Janis Ian: Breaking Silence
  • Scottsdale
  • Prodigal Daughter
  • She They Us
  • Journey in Spring (A)
  • Mr Loverman
  • Booked
  • Regarding Us
  • Dragon Dilatation

Joshua Tree, 1951: A Portrait of James Dean

Country: USA, Language: English, 90 mins

  • Director: Matthew Mishory
  • Writer: Matthew Mishory
  • Producer: Stephanie Frank; Troy Kelly

CGiii Comment

There have been more films made about James Dean than Dean made himself...

Dying at 24, with 2 posthumous Oscar nominations...Dean was a financial liability, the studio needed a return on their investment...they made him into a very profitable icon.

The gossip and the rumours surrounding Dean's sexuality and sexual proclivities were viral - everyone claiming a stake in the dead man's bed...

Mishory should have done some research into his subject before committing anything to film: he was not named after Lord Byron, his mother died when he was 9 (not 8) - ad nauseam. A trivial complaint...but...irritating.

The film reeks of easily-achieved-black-and-white style and lacks all credible substance - the writing basically stinks - not helped by some truly bad performances from the support.

Perhaps, Dean was a petulant, self-indulgent little prick...this film certainly paints him that way...

Mishory has achieved nothing with his film - inaccuracies and well-known facts are re-hashed and re-packaged - presumably for an audience yet to discover Dean. This film will only discourage any further interest in a faded, fleeting star of yesteryear.


Trailer...

The(ir) Blurb...

JOSHUA TREE, 1951 is an intimate portrait of James Dean on the cusp of achieving notoriety as both a great actor and an American icon. Set primarily in the early 1950s and focusing on Dean's experiences as an up-and-coming actor in Los Angeles, the film is a series of revealing and sometimes dreamlike vignettes that blend biographical and fictionalized elements to present a pivotal moment in a remarkable life.

Cast & Characters

James Preston as James Dean;
Sam Garfield as The Young Actor;
Dan Glenn as The Roommate;
Clint Catalyst as Johhny - The Bartender;
Kathrin Smirke as The Starlet;
Jay Donnell as Preston;
Edward Singletary as Roger;
Dalilah Rain as Violet;
Carl Ferrari as The Waiter