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06-09-2019 05:56 PM - edited 06-09-2019 07:17 PM
Grey Gardens which was shown on TCM last evening was a 1975 Documentary showing Big Edie and Little Edie Beale livng in what was, once, their beautiful home in a decaying mansion and their lives decaying along with it. This was real. Big Edie and Little Edie saw nothing wrong with the way they were living, they chose to remember the past as was reflected in their conversations. It is very sad for me to watch this but they didn't think their life was sad at all. As Little Edie said to Sally Quinn....All it needs is a coat of paint!
After her mother died and Little Edie sold the house to Sally Quinn, she had a cabaret engagement at Reno Sweeneys in Manhattan singing. I think it was a week's engagement. The reviews were awful but the house was packed for her entire run. She fulfilled her dream! How many of us get that chance? She left New York and moved to Florida and lived a very quiet life. So, you see, there is no sad ending!
A movie based upon this documentary starred Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange. A Broadway play was based on this documentary as well.
06-09-2019 07:26 PM
I watched this documentary again,an just was troubled as how they chose to live.I still couldn’t believe this terrible controls of living,very sad.They both sure needed help
06-09-2019 08:36 PM
I am surprised the health dept let it go as long as they did. I am also surprised those 2 women weren't dreadfully ill from living in the squalor
I think they were both teetering on the verge of insanity, and no one could help them
I don't blame Lee or Jackie. I think Ari would have paid for them to go elsewhere, they just wouldn't
The daughter was a dead ringer for Jackie. They didn't seem to be ashamed of their living conditions at all.
06-10-2019 09:43 AM - edited 06-10-2019 09:44 AM
Does anyone know why Little Edie always wore sweaters or scarves over her hair?
It seems as if Edie is half to fully naked all the time, too.
OMG I didn't realize they were toileting with no running water.
06-10-2019 10:13 AM
I haven't seen the documentary, but have seen the one with Drew Barrymore, and Jessica Lange. They were both excellent in their roles, especially Drew! However, it was very very sad, and so upsetting to see two grown women living like that......I almost couldn't watch it, it was so awful with all of those animals and rodents living in that house........
Yikes.....I had a hard time watching it all the way through, but glad I saw it. I actually watched it twice to make sure I wasn't missing anything. Jeanne Tripplehorn played Jackie and did a great job as well, although her role was small......
06-10-2019 10:18 AM
@cherry wrote:I am surprised the health dept let it go as long as they did. I am also surprised those 2 women weren't dreadfully ill from living in the squalor
I think they were both teetering on the verge of insanity, and no one could help them
I don't blame Lee or Jackie. I think Ari would have paid for them to go elsewhere, they just wouldn't
The daughter was a dead ringer for Jackie. They didn't seem to be ashamed of their living conditions at all.
@cherry I haven’t read this whole thread so it may have already been mentioned. The neighbors were always complaining about the smell. It actually reached their houses!
06-10-2019 10:24 AM
@proudlyfromNJ they were so loony that felt it was a political driven conspiracy against them. I just think they we not quite all there
They could converse and stuff, but hygiene, and things like that just flew out the window with them.
They did have water ,but ,the house needed a new sewage pipe because it had collapsed, as I recall
Ari took care of the costs for this. He used to call them. and they would sing to him ,and he would sing back on the phone to them. They really seemed to adore him
Little Edie referred to her self as a staunch character. She was a character alright
06-10-2019 10:37 AM
@PilatesLover wrote:Does anyone know why Little Edie always wore sweaters or scarves over her hair?
It seems as if Edie is half to fully naked all the time, too.
OMG I didn't realize they were toileting with no running water.
Little Edie had alopecia.
06-10-2019 11:02 AM
There is a prequel out, about what led up to this film. It is called ,That Summer..I haven't heard anything about it, but, I would like to watch it
The article is a rather long read
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/pdominguez/grey-gardens-that-summer-documentary
06-10-2019 11:12 AM
That Summer
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Friday, May 18 - Thursday, June 7, 2018
Welcome to Grey Gardens…as you’ve never seen it before. Three years before the Maysles’ landmark documentary introduced the world to Edith and Edie Beale—the unforgettable mother-daughter (and Jackie O. relatives) living in a decaying dream world on Long Island—renowned photographer Peter Beard chronicled life at their crumbling estate during one summer in 1972. For the first time ever, director Göran Hugo Olsson (The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975) assembles this long-lost footage—featuring glimpses of luminaries like Andy Warhol, Mick Jagger, and Truman Capote—into a one-of-a-kind family portrait bursting with the loving squabbles, quotable bon mots, and impromptu musical numbers that would make Big and Little Edie beloved cultural icons.
Official selection: Telluride Film Festival, Berlinale, CPHOX
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