In 1972, Lee Radziwill—the younger sister of Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis—pitched a documentary about her East Hampton childhood home to the American documentary makers and siblings Albert and David Maysles. She took the brothers with her on a trip to Grey Gardens, a mansion designed in 1897 by Joseph Greenleaf Thorpe and so-called because of the colour of the dunes, the concrete garden walls, and the sea mist. In Grey Gardens, her aunt and cousin lived.

The Beale women, mother and daughter, both named Edith Bouvier Beale—or “Big Edie” and “Little Edie”—were once members of New York City’s high society, but a series of circumstances saw them withdraw from city life and live a more isolated existence together for over fifty years at Grey Gardens, which had devolved into a complete state of disrepair. Their lives in this crumbling house, surviving on limited funds and living in increasing poverty, were at odds with the glamour of the Kennedy dynasty and the affluence of the Hamptons, which has a historic reputation as home to the wealthy and summer playground to the rich. The Beales lived in such appalling living conditions—flea infestations, cats co-habiting with raccoons, no running water, and surrounded by rubbish and rot—that following an inspection by the local health department (which the Beales referred to as “raids”), Grey Gardens featured in such contrasting publications as tabloid rag the National Enquirer *and* as a New York Magazine cover story. In 1972, with eviction and the City threatening to demolish Grey Gardens, Jackie O and Radziwill provided the necessary funds to stabilize and repair the dilapidated house, hoping it would meet village codes.

Big Edie—a former socialite and singer—and her estranged lawyer/financier husband, Phelan Beale, has purchased Grey Gardens in the early 1920s. The couple separated in 1931 and were legally divorced in 1946, with Phelan notifying his wife of the divorce via telegram. Big Edie was given Grey Gardens plus child support for their daughter and two sons (but no alimony), so relied on financial support from her family and continued to give local recitals, which did not pay exceptionally well. During the late 1940s, when Big Edie’s health started to decline, Little Edie—by now a thirty-something former debutante who had spent five years unsuccessfully pursuing an acting career in Manhattan—left her life to live permanently at Grey Gardens. A dutiful daughter bound to her now ailing mother. Her brothers, obviously, had no such obligations.

The Maysles immediately expressed interest in these women–their past and present lives and Grey Gardens—and received permission to film a documentary about the Beales. While Radziwill funded what has since become known as the first, shelved, lost version of the film in 1972, the brothers returned to Grey Gardens in 1974 without Radziwill’s financial support. In 1976, Grey Gardens was released to great acclaim and screened at that year’s Cannes Film Festival (but not entered into the main competition).

Given the subject matter and the squalor the Beales lived in, ethical issues continue to circumnavigate the film, including the exploitation of what many consider to be two mentally ill women. When asked about this in a 2014 interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Albert Maysles responded so:

“As someone with a background in psychology, I knew better than to claim [the Beales] were mentally ill. Their behavior [sic] was just their way of asserting themselves. And what could be a better way to assert themselves than a film about them asserting themselves? Nothing more, nothing less. It’s just them. They were always in control.”

For the women, financial issues were also in play. In 2018, The Telegraph reported that “[The Beales’] reasoning for allowing the cameras in was also practical: they were in dire need of money.” The Beales were compensated for their cooperation—how much is up for debate—yet it’s a vicious cycle because some documentarians believe that paying subjects for their time skewers how they portray themselves and hinders their authenticity on screen.

Grey Gardens leaves you debating whether Big Edie guilt-tripped her daughter into coming home to live with her mother or whether Little Edie was given no choice but to return home out of social obligation. If you read between the lines, you can see a mother who believes her children ruined her singing career and a daughter who was coerced back home and prevented the opportunity to live a rich, independent life of her own. They clearly love one another, but their lives are filled with nostalgia, regret, lost opportunities, and “what could have beens.” Their daily arguments are fierce and constant—conversations become explosive before simmering down again, bubbling away until the next one. In one tense exchange, Little Edie says, “I suppose I won’t get out of here until she dies or I die. I don’t like it. I like freedom.” “Well,” her mother responds, “you can’t have it.”

These themes were explored in the 2009 film Grey Gardens, which starred Jessica Lange as Big Edie and Drew Barrymore as Little Edie and was broadcast on HBO. The non-linear film flashes back and forth over the years between Little Edie’s life as a young debutante in 1936, moving in and co-habiting with her mother at Grey Gardens estate, and the filming and premiere of the documentary. This version of Grey Gardens won six Primetime Emmys and two Golden Globes.

In 2010, Grey Gardens was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” In 2012, the documentary topped the list of 100 greatest documentary films of all time by PBS through public voting, and in 2014, a Sight and Sound poll of film critics voted Grey Gardens the tenth-best documentary film of all time. The Beales and the film continue to be referenced in various media.

Big Edie died of pneumonia at Southampton Hospital in Southampton, New York, on 5 February 1977. In 1979, following her mother’s death, Little Edie sold Grey Gardens—on the condition the mansion would not be razored—to Sally Quinn and her husband, longtime Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee, who restored the house and grounds, living at Grey Gardens for 35 years until Bradlee died in 2014. In 2017, after renting out the property, Quinn sold Grey Gardens to fashion designer Liz Lange and her husband, who extensively remodelled the house and surrounding gardens. Like the film that made it famous, Grey Gardens continues to survive.

Little Edie died in Florida in January 2002 at the age of 84. Before Big Edie passed away, Little Edie is said to have asked if her mother had any final words. “There’s nothing more to say,” Big Edie replied. “It’s all in the film.”