Grey Gardens

Around this time of year, I always get the urge to watch the documentary film "Grey Gardens" by Albert and David Maysles.  Perhaps it is the flag dance that Little Edie does that makes me think of 4th of July festivities, but whatever it is, the summer is a great time to view it.  I first caught this film, purely by accident, on a dull summer afternoon, with nothing to do.  The weather was too hot to do anything, so I was laying around looking for something interesting to watch.  At first I didn't realize it was a documentary, because the characters were too quirky and strange to be real people, but as the film went on, I became mesmerized and sucked into their world.  Afterwards, I looked up their information because I found both women incredibly fascinating.

I had the pleasure of meeting Albert Maysles back in 2002 where I was attending a viewing of another of the Maysles documentaries 'Gimme Shelter'.   He had talked fondly of Little Edie (who had recently passed away), and gave the audience some insight on her life AFTER Grey Gardens.  She was able to move out of the house after Big Edie passed away,  and lived in Florida and even performed shows to an adoring public.  It made me happy to think that she was able to live the life she so desperately wanted.

Below are some of my favorite scenes from the documentary.  If you haven't seen the HBO film starring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange, I would suggest that you see the documentary first, you will understand how wonderfully they captured Big and Little Edie so perfectly.