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Grey Gardens (1975)

chitowngirl

By chitowngirl
in Movies

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chitowngirl

chitowngirl

(edited)

Note: This topic was started by @auntjess. No clue why moved replies from the other forum went AHEAD of her post below!

 

This first came onto my radar from an episode of The Gilmore Girls where they are watching this. Just sad and fascinating.  Hoarding at its best!.   And the movie with Jessica Lange and Drew Berrymore really captured the Edies well. 

Edited by WendyCR72
Clearing up post confusion!
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Maizie131

Maizie131

One of my favorite scenes was when Big Edie sees one of the cats taking a shit behind a large portrait that was leaning against a wall, and says, "Well at least somebody's having fun."  OMG!  ROFL & disgusted both at the same time! 

This documentary really got me to thinking about the genes in the Bouvier family.  Just wow. 

Auntjess - thanks for starting this forum!  Hope lotsa people give their input.  As chitowngirl said above, it's both sad and fascinating and, in my opinion, riveting.  I may check out the movie version.

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auntjess

auntjess

(edited)

Ok, we're settled in the right place now, and thanks ModWendy for seeing if we can move posts.
If not I'll just copy and paste.
Now, first order of business, some links.
 Sandy Passage, a Documentary Now! on GG.  It's often on IFC, but on youtube.
This is a bit of it, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk6awDQouXw  .
It's on Documentary Now! on IFC, at 11AM ET Saturday, and other times too.


And this page tells a lot about the characters, etc.
http://greygardensonline.com/

Edited by auntjess
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auntjess

auntjess

(edited)

So in going over who's most to blame, I go with Little Edie, because her mother said she had her come home from NYC (wasn't this 1952?), when she couldn't afford, or maybe didn't want, to keep sending Edie a care package of food so she could eat.
I wonder if she even thought to get a job.
Unless she tried and her father blocked it, I'd think a well-know deb could get something not too onerous, that would buy food.  And I imagine she was taken out a lot.
Jackie got a "roving photographer/reporter job at a DC paper, where she asked people, including JFK a question. 
 

Edited by auntjess
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VCRTracking

VCRTracking

(edited)

I've heard of the title "Grey Gardens" before but didn't really know what it was about until it was spoofed by IFC's "Documentary Now!" starring Bill Hader and Fred Armisen from SNL in the first episode called "Sandy Passages":

Edited by VCRTracking
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azshadowwalker

azshadowwalker

(edited)

I only saw the documentary after I saw the Drew Barrymore movie on HBO (?). I think there's some blame to go around, but I think Little Edie would have driven me nuts. Mostly, I think the father was an asshole who had a huge impact on how his wife and daughter ended up. 

I don't know how accurate the Barrymore movie was, but it suggested that she did have a job, but also had married "friends". The father was involved in bringing her back so she didn't "dishonor" the family with her flings. 

Edited by azshadowwalker
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auntjess

auntjess

They seem to have opted out of responsibility.
I can't imagine how the house was allowed to get to that state.  It looked to me as if it would have taken years.
I cant remember how long they were divorced, but it looks like she didn't get anything but the house itself, and no repairs were made.
On the other hand, Little Edie, and maybe both of them, could have gotten off their asses and found a job somewhere, somehow.
It could even have been something "socially acceptable," like French tutoring, or etiquette classes.
So maybe the brothers were fed up.
Here's Little Edie's obit from 2002. 
The family seens to have been in touch, but it was 5 days, I think, before anyone realized she had died.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/25/nyregion/edith-bouvier-beale-84-little-edie-dies.html

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azshadowwalker

azshadowwalker

(edited)

Phelan, Jr and Bouvier both have Wiki pages. They apparently refused to pay the property taxes on the place until Jackie O stepped in. Phelan lived and died in Oklahoma, mostly working for the state of Oklahoma. Bouvier was just another rich NYC lawyer. Both died in the early 1990s.

Eh. Not fans of either. They were given help by their dad to get rich. The only thing that the women had was the house. I have more respect for Phelan, Jr than Bouvier, though. 

Edited by azshadowwalker
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auntjess

auntjess

(edited)

Sandy Passage is on again tomorrow, Friday, 5/18/18.
This is a parody of Grey Gardens.
 

10:00PM

9:30C

DOCUMENTARY NOW!

S1, E1

Sandy Passage

TV14 (VL)

The lives of two aging socialites, and their deteriorating estate.

Edited by auntjess
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Jeebus Cripes

Jeebus Cripes

7 hours ago, auntjess said:

Sandy Passage is on again tomorrow, Friday, 5/18/18.
This is a parody of Grey Gardens.
 

10:00PM

9:30C

DOCUMENTARY NOW!

S1, E1

Sandy Passage

TV14 (VL)

The lives of two aging socialites, and their deteriorating estate.

That's my absolute favorite episode! 

My mother and I are obsessed with Grey Gardens. Tragic yet so very entertaining. It's also endlessly quotable. 

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msrachelj

msrachelj

On 9/11/2016 at 11:08 PM, auntjess said:

They seem to have opted out of responsibility.
I can't imagine how the house was allowed to get to that state.  It looked to me as if it would have taken years.
I cant remember how long they were divorced, but it looks like she didn't get anything but the house itself, and no repairs were made.
On the other hand, Little Edie, and maybe both of them, could have gotten off their asses and found a job somewhere, somehow.
It could even have been something "socially acceptable," like French tutoring, or etiquette classes.
So maybe the brothers were fed up.
Here's Little Edie's obit from 2002. 
The family seens to have been in touch, but it was 5 days, I think, before anyone realized she had died.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/25/nyregion/edith-bouvier-beale-84-little-edie-dies.html

damn, have to pay to read it.

On 5/18/2018 at 12:54 AM, HunterHunted said:

That Summer, the footage that the Maysles shot before they went back to film Grey Gardens, is being released.

https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/movies/that-summer-grey-gardens-1.18540282

does anyone know if this is going to be shown on ifc or anywhere on direct tv. it sure isn't playing near me and i have limited internet so can't watch online. i'm dying to see it!!!!

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auntjess

auntjess

A movie version, with Drew Barrymore, is on HBO on demand, on U-verse.  (I don't have HBO, and haven't seen it.)
Bits of it are on youtube, and there's some that says it's available on youtube movies, from $2.99.

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VCRTracking

VCRTracking

Last week, critic Amy Nicholson discussed the documentary in her podcast "The Canon" with guest, Vox film critic Alissa Wilkinson. One of the good points they make is you start the movie thinking "Big Edie" is the crazy one and "Little Edie" is the sane one but by the end you realize it's sort of the reverse. Also that the Mayles Brothers were definitely exploiting them, but the question is whether "Little Edie" knew but didn't care.

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Scarlett45

Scarlett45

I was under the impression that the Beale brothers wanted their mom to move to a smaller property that wouldn’t eat up her entire trust funds (the nest egg she had from the inheritance from her father) and she refused to move, refused listen to their advice. Based on my own bit of life experience it’s hard dealing with someone who’s technically competent enough to make decisions for themselves but not mentally well enough to make GOOD decisions. After years of her not listening to reason the boys washed their hands....probably due in a large part to frustration. 

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Scarlett45

Scarlett45

I was compelled to watch the 2009 Grey Gardens lately. Let’s just say I think my great aunt and my cousin are turning into a much more hygienic and sanitary version of Grey Gardens these days. I’m trying to not alienate anyone but offer help- however competent adults are allowed to make bad decisions. 

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