Did anyone else see Grey Gardens on HBO over the weekend? If not, you really should try to see it. Drew Barrymore portrays "Little Edie" Beale (Jackie O's cousin) - and Jessica Lange plays "Big Edie", Jackie O's aunt and Little Edie's mother.
However, you really should see the original documentary first. The original Grey Gardens was released in 1975 and showed the Beales living in their ramshackle East Hampton mansion - Grey Gardens. The house was falling apart and disgusting - filled with garbage, cats (and cat urine and feces), and even raccoons. The documentary is heartbreaking, bizarre, life-affirming and mesmerizing ... all at the same time.
However, you really should see the original documentary first. The original Grey Gardens was released in 1975 and showed the Beales living in their ramshackle East Hampton mansion - Grey Gardens. The house was falling apart and disgusting - filled with garbage, cats (and cat urine and feces), and even raccoons. The documentary is heartbreaking, bizarre, life-affirming and mesmerizing ... all at the same time.
The HBO version is just as entertaining and mesmerizing - and it contains some background information which shows how these women got into the situation they ended up in. Jessica Lange gives an AMAZING performance as the elder Beale who relies on her daughter for everything.
One of the things the ladies do (in the documentary and in the HBO movie) is sing and dance. In fact, Little Edie mentions she is putting together a cabaret act. Sure enough, after her mother died, "Little" Edith Bouvier Beale - then 60 years old - performed at a Greenwich Village Club called Reno Sweeney. She did 8 shows over New Year's week in 1978 - and received horrible reviews.
After her nightclub debut, Little Edie sold Grey Gardens and moved to Florida - where she died in 2002.
The current owners of Grey Gardens - journalist Sally Quinn and former Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee - completely restored the mansion to its former glory. However, it is said that during long periods of rain, when the wood-framed home gets very wet, the smell of cat urine returns and they must vacate until things dry out.
The current owners of Grey Gardens - journalist Sally Quinn and former Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee - completely restored the mansion to its former glory. However, it is said that during long periods of rain, when the wood-framed home gets very wet, the smell of cat urine returns and they must vacate until things dry out.
