GREY GARDENS

'''Grey Gardens''' is a 1976 documentary film by the direction/cinematography/editing team of Albert and David Maysles, Susan Froemke, Ellen Hovde, and Muffie Meyer. The film depicts the everyday lives of two women who lived at Grey Gardens, a decrepit 28-room mansion at 3 West End Avenue in the wealthy Georgica Pond neighborhood of East Hampton, New York.

Contents

Grey Gardens

Aftermath

Adaptations

References in other works

See also

External links

Grey Gardens

Edith "Big Edie" Ewing Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edith "Little Edie" Bouvier Beale, were the aunt and first cousin of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. The two women lived together at Grey Gardens in squalor and almost total isolation.
In 1972, their living conditions were exposed as the result of an article in the ''National Enquirer'' and a series of raids by the Suffolk County Health Department.
Grey Gardens was purchased in 1924 by Phelan and Edith Bouvier Beale, aunt and uncle of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. The Beales occupied the house for over 50 years.
The house itself, a traditional shingled cottage of 14 rooms, was designed by Joseph Greenleaf Thorpe in 1897 and completed several years later. The grey color of the dunes, the hue of the cement garden walls, and the sea mist gave the garden its color and the house its name. Jackie Kennedy and her sister, Lee Radziwill, quietly provided funds to stabilize and repair the dilapidated house.

Aftermath

"Big Edie" died in 1977 and "Little Edie" sold the house in 1979 to former ''Washington Post'' editor Ben Bradlee and his wife, Sally Quinn. According to a 2003 article in ''Town & Country'', the building and grounds have been completely restored. Philanthropist Frances Hayward currently rents the home 11 months out of the year from the Bradlees.
The handyman shown in the documentary, Jerry Torre, was sought by the filmmakers for years afterward, and was found by chance driving a New York City taxicab. [1] One of the two birthday party guests in the film, Lois Wright, has hosted a public television show in East Hampton since the 1980s, and has written a book about her experiences at the house with the Beales. [2]
In 2006, Albert Maysles made available previously unreleased footage for a special 2-disc edition for the Criterion Collection, including a new feature entitled ''The Beales of Grey Gardens'' which also received a limited theatrical release.

Adaptations

The documentary has been adapted into a full-length musical, ''Grey Gardens'', with book by Doug Wright, music by Scott Frankel and lyrics by Michael Korie. Starring Christine Ebersole and Mary Louise Wilson, the show premiered at Playwrights Horizons in New York City in February 2006 to generally good reviews. The musical reopened on Broadway in November 2006 at the Walter Kerr Theatre to excellent reviews - and was acclaimed on over 25 "Best of 2006" lists in newspapers and magazines (e.g.: ''Time, Entertainment Weekly, USA Today''). The production won a Tony Award for Best Costume Design, and Ebersole and Wilson each won Tony Awards for their performances. The Broadway production closed on July 29, 2007. While it was announced that Christine Ebersole would take the musical to London for the 2007-08 season, she has since been reported to be starring in Applause in February 2008 in New York.
A feature film based on the documentary, starring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange, and written and directed by director Michael Sucsy, is also being planned. [3]

References in other works

Musician Rufus Wainwright wrote a song entitled "Grey Gardens", which appears on his 2001 album ''Poses''. The song's narrative is partly composed of references to both the 1975 documentary ''Grey Gardens'', and to Thomas Mann's novella ''Death in Venice'' (or to Luchino Visconti's film of the same title). The song begins with a line from the film, spoken by Little Edie. Wainwright has said that ''Grey Gardens'' is his favorite film.
On the third season of ''Gilmore Girls'', the title characters are seen watching and commenting on ''Grey Gardens'', and refer to it through the remainder of the episode.
In the second season of the Showtime series ''The L Word'', Mark and Jenny mention the film upon first meeting. Mark is an aspiring director of documentaries and names ''Grey Gardens'' as one of his favorite films.
Canadian indie pop group Stars sample dialogue from the film in the song "The Woods" on their 2003 release ''Heart''.
In the Rugrats episode "The Case of the Missing Rugrat," Tommy is accidentally taken from Grandpa Lou and is put under the care of two sisters named Edith and Clarice in their crumbling estate called Grey Gardens, in an episode that also heavily references ''Sunset Boulevard'' and ''What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?''
In an episode of Will and Grace, the following dialogue mentions Grey Gardens:
:'Jack': Okay, she seems fine.
:'Will': Fine? It's like a scene from Grey Gardens in here. I'm afraid if we leave, she's gonna take a nap at the bottom of the pool.
The film is mentioned by character Michael Tolliver in Armistead
Maupin's 1978 novel "Tales of the City" as well as the 1992 miniseries based on the book.
In the September 5, 2007 installment of the newspaper comic Sally Forth, Sally's mother describes staying with her other daughter as being "like Grey Gardens without the Bouvier fortune."

See also

★ Grey Gardens (musical)

External links

★

★ ''Grey Gardens'' official website

★ Criterion Collection essay by Hilton Als
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/film/maysles.html