Center Aisle Cinema

Grey Gardens is a 1975 documentary film by Albert and David Maysles that was a successful hit. The documentary, filmed in the Maysles brothers “direct cinema” style, introduced the public to a quirky mother and daughter pair both named Edith Beale. The peek into the world of “Little Edie” and “Big Eadie” has fascinated a generation, inspiring several different works based in the world of Grey Gardens.

“The Beales of Grey Gardens”

Released in 2006, this film is composed entirely of left over footage not used in the original documentary. It’s a sequel of sorts, giving more insight into the way the Beale’s lived their life. It was released by the Criterion Collection, who also re-released the original documentary in 2001.

“Grey Gardens — The Musical”

The film was adapted into a musical that premiered in New York in 2006. The musical follows the mother-daughter pair from being high society aristocrats to their isolated home life depicted in the original documentary. DBRL has the original Broadway cast recording on CD.

“HBO’s Grey Gardens”

This is a fictional film based off of the documentary that premiered on HBO in 2009. The film fills in the back stories of both women as played by Drew Barrymore (“Little Edie”) and Jessica Lange (“Big Edie”). The film won several Primetime Emmy and Golden Globe awards.

Filed under: doc topics

We recently added “Sherman’s March” to the DBRL collection. The film was awarded the Grand Jury prize at the 1987 Sundance Film Festival and the film currently has a rating of 100% from critics at Rotten Tomatoes. Here’s a synopsis from our catalog:

Ross McElwee sets out to make a documentary about the lingering effects of General Sherman’s march of destruction through the South during the Civil War, but is continually sidetracked by women who come and go in his life, his recurring dreams of nuclear holocaust, and Burt Reynolds.

Check out the film trailer or the official film site for more info.

Filed under: new dvds