Grey Gardens (1975)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Directors:

Ellen Hovde
Albert Maysles

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

An old mother and her middle-aged daughter, the aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, live their eccentric lives in a filthy, decaying mansion in East Hampton.

Plot Keywords:

Mansion | Hamptons | Cat | Raccoon | Flea

Cast

Edith Bouvier Beale	...	Herself
Edith 'Little Edie' Bouvier Beale	...	Herself
Brooks Hyers	...	Himself - Gardener
Norman Vincent Peale	...	Himself (voice)

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

East Hampton, Long Island, New York, USA

Company:

Portrait Films

Trivia:

The house, Grey Gardens, was sold by Edith 'Little Edie' Bouvier Beale in 1979 to Benjamin C. Bradlee, former editor of the "Washington Post", and Sally Quinn. The pair completely restored the house (the sale agreement forbids razing the house), but the Bradleys only stay there in the month of August. During the rest of the year, the home is occupied by Frances Hayward.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Edith 'Little Edie' Bouvier Beale: What're you doing down there? You staying there?

Movie Connections:

References A Night at the Opera (1935)

Soundtrack:

Tea for Two

There goes the Neighborhood

I took this out arbitrarily from the library the other night, having no idea of the film's cult, influence, or that it is currently being staged as a musical.(!) Most of the comments here are on target, it's moving, funny, sad, and yes, a tad exploitive despite the best intentions of the filmmakers. The expanded Chriterion edition is a must for anyone who loved it when it came out.

I think you can also see in little Edie the fall of a class that sort of disappeared, you can hear it in old films of Jackie O too; people just don't talk like that anymore. I think as a documentary, it would have been interesting to get more information about how the home fell into disrepute, Old Edie at least still seems aware of what's going on to a certain degree; couldn't She see the once spectacular home disintegrating?

Yet the film's subject is the life the two women have constructed for themselves now, a real life Tennesse Williams one act. Well worth your time.