their greatest battles will be with themselves

[SkankExpose]

Ooo...she's crazy, but I love her lol

[mmmitch643]

Little edie is so lovely

[boomerlady]

She's pretty with great teeth. That's genetic, I think.

[rachbell555]

wow this is intense

[Bethycakesable]

She seems naturally intuitive and wise about life and people.  She's adorable and lovely. Thanks for posting.

[cute07nm]

I just watched Grey Gardens yesterday and haven't seen any real clips of lil' Edith that's why at first I think Drew's performance was "okay, she's good" but, when I saw this I was so impressed and shocked by Drew Barrymore's performance in the movie! Her acting was excellent! I can't even distinguish who is who. Drew captured and portrayed every expression, accent and even the looks of Edith perfectly!

[PlanetEarthSupport]

Scorp should NEVER marry Sag ... only Cap/Pisc & preferrably Cancer ... mayBe Virgo consider depending rising signs & moon ...

[msjennable]

Wow!

[yolowell]

She is captivating.

[kakadoodoo3000]

i love her lipstick color! :)

[scruffy281]

I have a very different opinion of Jackie Kennedy after seeing this documentary and also reading more about this marvelously indearing women. Jackie should have helped them. This would never have happened in a Southern family. Family is family no matter what....................

[xqeenx]

I agree. The Kennedy's had lots of money. They should have helped them out waaay more.

Old money is never financially generous though... never. (not that the Kennedy's are old money).

[Mike6E]

She's obviously talking about Big Edie here.

[earthlyfriend]

This is a disgrace on the Kennedy's to allow their kin be without and having all that weath themselves. The human selfishness has stooped to a very low level.

Sparacio

[misslilac]

i love you little edie

[dawnten]

What a character! :) Her free spirit is admirable with the horrendous circumstances they had to endure. They were used to people doing everything for them I guess, thus retreating into their own little world. It is a shame since she had a born talent for the written word at a very young age.

[kentucky9000]

Shes so cool, i like just to listen to her. she no crazy . just the opp.

[YellowMangerCalling]

I'll answer my own question because I found the family history on some site. Her remarks about being "Southern" make sense now I realise because her father, Phelan Beale, was born in Tennessee and grew up in Alabama -- so that must be what's she's referencing. So many layers of history and personality with these women and their lineage.

[YellowMangerCalling]

As she speaks about pride and such, she says something about having a temper and that it's "Southern," but I don't quite understand...they lived in New York most or all of their lives, or at least I thought, and NY is not a Southern state -- does anyone know what she means by this?

[joemack]

i think its astrology not astronomy

[theairinthebranches]

@joemack oops; thanks for the heads up

[traceymanzano]

Edie told the truth and her mom couldn't hadle it, so she made her feel crazy instead of appreciating how different she was.. Her mom really did a number on her by keeping her as a personal pet and never allowing her to truly grow!

[hilljayne]

Little Edie rules..........she's wonderful.

[pontyfaxjr]

she should get glasses instead of using a magnifying glass

[MrBlanco45]

Eccentric is just a term used for the harmless, mentally ill upperclass.

Nevertheless, both were fascinating women.

[TheDamienZone]

So much more interesting that her cousin Jackie -- so so so much more naturally classy without the put-on, Just a natural.

[0zombiepixie0]

her mother was very selfish....but both Edie's were afraid of being alone :(

[nmsoberguy]

People of a certain... shall we say... breeding? would not even think to clean... it isn't in their plane of reality. And one thing builds on the other... a maid leaves... the cook leaves... everyone leaves... Add to that depression...

[frank47hammer]

"I returned to to the Catholic church, so I shouldn't be reading astrology." haha Yet she loved astrology more than any thing. She was an interesting woman. She obviously was mentally ill, but she came from a family the couldn't accept it. No Beales could be mentally ill. But she was also brilliant and loving; she was unique and interesting. In her youth, she was stunningly beautiful, a fascinating woman. I am looking for a book of her letters and poetry.

[HelenaNV]

@frank47hammer I don't think she was mentally ill. She was just eccentric.

[frank47hammer]

@HelenaNV In my experience, eccentric is just another name for being mentally ill. I think she definitely had some mental health issues. There is nothing wrong with that; lots of people have or have had mental illness.

[milesbjameson]

Thank you for posting this! My fav from this film. Much to learn here concerning the Golden Rule. P R I D E ! They think you don't have it, or something. They don't realize how sensative a human being is! I don't mean a Scorpion or Saggitariun, but EVERBODY! People are terribly sensative! So they run ROUGHSHOD over EVERYBODY! How true Edie! Wise beyond her years. What a treasure she was. Miss you!

[TheLadyjazzy1]

love this video!! skitzo freenick lol

[Mike6E]

2:04 - 2:08 is completely hysterical - Edie had such a great sense of humor. Just one of her many talents.

[yellowwitch1]

Little Edie was a good looking woman and doesn't look 56 at all. But it is so strange that they didn't do anything to sort themselves out... parents divorced when mother was 35, and she didn't do anything since then, living on their family's help... Little Edie looks slightly insane.

[michellethehawtie]

if the buthday is between septembuh thud...

[silvershields]

who is she? i follow this link form a forum on a post about Jackey O

[RobNLynchburgVA]

@silvershields big edie was edith bouvier, jackie's father's sister. jackie's aunt, this would make little edie jackies first cousin.

[PROFILESophiaYates]

So much to learn here. She was using a glass to read. Why? She couldn't afford glasses. Where was her family? Bye bye.They lived in filth. Where was their family? They knew they existed & who they were. So close a relative to just discard. the mental illness is not an reason to say bye. I bought this film to see the trend. I know in my heart & I cry. The papers show why. It's greed that's why.

[trannyache]

Amazingly wonderful lovable woman

[cbrun67176]

I love her accent it's so gentle

[sleepypoodle]

She's right there about Sagittarians, from personal experience I think that they make wonderful partners, stable, loyal, honest, genuine...

I wish Edie had found someone special to really appreciate her, she had so much to give, I hope that her mother realised what a kind and generous person her daughter was and the sacrifices she made through pure love and loyalty. Those sons of hers deserved a kick in the pants for trying to force her to sell the house by refusing to help in any way.

[pastybaby]

i love her. i wish i could have been her friend. what a darling

[stu57stu]

She is lovely

[lechaise]

I'm sorry that she does it as a result of cataracts, but the way she reads things with her magnifying glass is so touching :)

[nycdre]

I wonder why the Maysles did not use this scene for the main documentary...she opens up so much in this part!

[cuddlyangl]

I think they both seem like such caring loving people. Little Edie seems to have such a wonderful childlike quality yet she is very capable. I think she is more of a borderline personality disorder. She was so pretty and so caring though and really smart and funny which borerline's usually are. They are fascinating though.

[joolee75]

I love the Beale women. Big Edie and her beautiful voice. Try listening to her sing "Tea for Two" without a tear in your eye. Littel Edie was still a beauty, even with Alopecia. Her intelligence was still evident, and she was strong enough to take care of herself after her mother passed away.

[brabon1]

did she have alopecia totalis?

because i notice that she also had no eyebrows

[Mike6E]

People don't take the time to actually listen to what Edie has to say - they look at her outfits and the state of her home and just assume she's a nutcase. If people would just sit and listen to what Edie had to say, they'd realize what an eloquent, self-aware, intelligent woman she was. You can't expect her to be totally normal after the life she led - so what, if she's a little whacky? I'd prefer that to some boring, "normal" stick-in-the-mud, anyday.

[darganx]

This woman fascinates me.

I didn't know about her until Ch4 showed first the film, then the doc a week later over xmas.

Just very eccentric - an artistic part of me understands her in a way.

[nauort23]

Rape? Schizophrenia? I think some of you are over-anaylyzing. She was an immature, undisciplined rich kid--with no skills to serve her in the "real" world. She was brought up (not very well) to become a rich man's wife. Given that her mother had "lost" in the divorce (only the house + 300/mo.) and Little Edie's "free-spirit", it didn't happen. THIS happened instead. THANK GOD! Who would you rather see in E. Hampton? A bunch of class-climbing anal sphincters like Martha Stewart or the Beales?

[giannireb68]

Beautifully said!! Isn't it sad how so many people are so ahistorical in their thought? These deficient idiots shouldn't be allowed to even watch these swell dames. Pearls before swine, you undehhstaaand...

[nauort23]

The "swell dames" in this documentary are preserved here on film for the kind few who can appreciate them. Everyone else can go watch the movie or pay $250 to see the B-way musical! (I've refused to support either.) Maybe they'll get to sit next to the sort of people who took over the Hamptons.

[giannireb68]

Something worth the $'s is the Maysles daughters GG book (2009). Includes all the film transcripts plus a vast chunk of what wasn't used. What you've seen is just the tip of the iceberg. The Ediths were far more fascinating, hilarious, shrewd, insightful AND crazy than you'd think. And actually, they really WERE in on the joke. They knew who they were. The sphinctery climbers you mention have no self-knowledge or worthy inner resources. Thus, the climb-climb-climb. They can keep it, the pricks

[nauort23]

Hey, thanks for the recom on the book. Just read your profile. I should never have left NYC. Your brain is a precious commodity that I might appreciate even more than this documentary.

p.s. Don't you love those "sunspots" on the film, dancing around Edie's head when she's saying, "I think they got it awl wrawng"? and talking about how sensitive human beings are? Cosmic intervention! Better than drugs! (Big Pharma or otherwise)

[giannireb68]

The sunlight loved Little E, as did the moonlight. The camera loved her as well. The same could be said for Big E. In fact, all of the Bouviers were mediagenic, no matter what the circumstance: Jackie looks alluring even in that Zapruder film (she does, admit it) and as for John Jr., COMPLETE Bouvier, well, he never took a bad picture in the entirety of his brief life. His sis Caroline, on the other hand, is, well...um.. a Kennedy. Or more specifically, a Kennedy woman.

[nauort23]

I kind of like Caroline's looks. No one in the limelight has an overbite anymore, like those actresses and models in the 1920's. But, like...um... the rest of the Kennedy women (except the one they labotomized), she just needs to eat something and get a haircut. What is with all that long hair, even in their 70's? I always loved Jackie in that pink, blood-splattered boucle. Too bad she and that princess-sister, who was also sold to the highest bidder, nearly put the kabosh on this film.

[giannireb68]

It's easy to judge Jackie, especially when one becomes a thrall to the Great Ediths. That being said, the entire situation was very complicated. The average person might not see the knots in it, having average, everyday priorities and all but these folks were different. Little E never tired of airing a host of hilarious complaints bout how shabbily they were treated by Jackie, but Big E totally got it. Jackie was the guardian of a mythic legacy, a paramount concern for "Old Society" families.

[nauort23]

@giannireb68 The Bouviers styling themselves as "Old Society" was certainly mythic!

[giannireb68]

Haha--truly !! Nearly all of that family today laugh at the notion themselves. They are descendants of a Bonapartiste cabinet maker (albeit a very successful one) who emigrated to Philly when Napoleon fell. Their association with the Emperor's useless brother, also an emigre and who had been "King of Spain" for 5 minutes made them notable. They also had the luck to make their money before the industrial revolution--a "clean" "polite" finance-based fortune. No dirty mines or railroads here..

[giannireb68]

So to recap, you have a clan with the most dubious and fictional type of wealth (stock and real estate speculation) connected to the most dubious and fictional "royal" family in European history whose ultimate contribution is placing one of it's female members at the center of one of the greatest myths in American political history ("Camelot"--that reference, by the way, actually came directly from Jackie's mouth). Of course, we also have "Grey Gardens"..and perhaps this explains the Ediths ?

[xelaresom27]

To hear that edie herself is thinking about that people called her schizophrenic changed my angle on the whole story compeltly! Maybe that was the reason she could not live alone? And big edie knew that and in fact, really had to take care of her? I thought little edie has schizophrenia in the first place. question is if it occured that early in the 50ies or if she´d become ill by living with her mother. What do you think? And where is this from, i dont have that szene on my òriginal`DVD!

[TheKearnsmike]

Little Edie wasn't schizophrenic. She was set apart by society, thwarted by her mother, abandoned by her family, and looked upon as a bug under glass. She was lonely, that's all. Anyone would be, after all that.

Most of the insecurity and erratic behavior that people develop are the result of lonliness.

Edie, being the sweetnatured soul that she was, suffered deeply for the selfishness of those around her.

[JelloFarming]

That was great what she said about people being sensitive.

[minx45th]

Little and BIG Eddie, unique in every way....a study for the millennium!

[thegenie1]

I would be willing to believe that little edie was manhandled by a few of those rich men, and when she said "stop it", she was "put in her place", as were ALL women of that time period. It was her decision not to live with those men for the rest of her life, and she was actually very uncompromising, and THAT is what made little edie different AND stronger than other people. She also lived by her convictions, come hell or high water, and then Hell and High water came to visit......

[thegenie1]

Edie's frame of reference is so different from ours, and what we see is a woman transcending her circumstances, not racting in a dysfunctional way. True, she was unsanitary, but she was simply not given the frame of reference to be a person of self initiation. Watch the way big edie interacts with her, and the things she says behind her back, and you can clearly see where the patterns originated. Edie was most assuredly NOT mentally ill, but still coping with a situation she did not choose.

[thegenie1]

Women of her era who grew up in her circumstances were simply not equipped to take care of themselves, and her mother, in trying to help her the best way she new how, hindered her development and self image. Edie was a true victim of her circumstances, and the choices that are available to women of her social class nowadays are EXTREMELY different from the choices available to women like her back then.

[bellynellykelly]

Many women in her era had to struggle with poverty&social discrimination too. They kept fighting though: Dorothy Dandrige, Lena Horne etc.

You can skip lunch for ice cream. House Decoration for a lipstick. But what can justify the unhygienic living condition? Were sweeping the floor once in a month too much? No. How about disposing empty cat food cans?

I love Little Edie, she had a really spirited, lively soul. But the Beales were irresponsible. 10 year old girls trapped in old women's bodies.

[thegenie1]

Edie was not schizophrenic. She held back so much in this movie. She was obviously coming from a frame of reference in which she was hurt by a few select people who happened to posess real external power, and her revolution was not an external one, but was fought internally. She dated many famous,powerful men, one of which could have provided her with the lifestyle she desired (J. Paul Getty), but she, for some reason, didn't end up with him, and as a result, her choices were extremely limited.

[bustthewave]

Is there any actual evidence that she was possibly raped or what have you by some men in her life?

I think there is definite evidence that little eddie was hurt by people or someone while she was away in New York, or else she wouldn't have run home... but what an abusive person her mother is. Either way, both of them are victims of their personal choices to some extent.

[margerineandturkey]

Im studieing astrology now, and i find this video helpful. I love her. I wish she had a better life in the 70s.

[goldengirl67]

"Schizophreeeenic" - adorable the way she says it.

[dragonfly4evr]

I bet if she had some meds she would've have been something else. She comes across as someone with a huge heart.

[MsMesem]

@dragonfly4evr Yep, another zombie. She wouldn't be herself. Medication screws up your liver and your mind.

[therenia22]

"I went back to the Catholic Church, I shouldn't even be talking about astrology"..LOL

[keed48]

She's a nut , it's obvious...bless her heart..but very entertaining.

[homeplan20]

I have got crazy relations too! but I have no money or family connections so they remain quite Mad. If my family had some of those attributes they would just be wealthy eccentric types. Shame!

But I do love Edie.

[pbunting]

Edie has some sort of psychosis - as evidenced by her delusional thinking, paranoia, emotional lability. She can at least be diagnosed as having a Schizotypal Persoanlity Disorder. She is very lovable, but unfortunately mentally ill as well.

[xchampbearx]

She was not schizophrenic. My mother has it, it's all about mental confusion, hallucinations, paranoia and hearing voices in their heads. Edie seemed to have full possession of her marbles!

[fionafan22]

No, she had some form of mental illness. It is kinda obvious.

[shayrollins1]

@xchampbearx thanks for this



[kameyaki223]

I love the capture of her in the light at around 1:58; it's beautiful.

[VercingetorixXIII]

Something about her is beautiful... it comes from inside and I love the creative way she ties her scarves.

[wendyglowworm]

She's the original "Drama Queen"

[BabyTeela]

Drew berrymore nailed her on the talking & actions!! I love how interesting and full of stories she is!!

[marcushot1]

how have I been a gay man of 40 and just heard of grey gardens? Watching this woman is captivating.

[Sunnybunny2006]

she makes so much sense, even if she's crazy.

[elessar2k49]

my god, to just spend a day with this woman would be incredible. sooooooo interesting!

[musiknouvel]

I rented a copy of "Grey Gardens" and this scene wasn't in it.

[theairinthebranches]

yeah I mis-tagged it - fixed it now - this is from the folllow-up documentary, "The Beales of Grey Gardens."

[waitingtolive]

Your kidding was it filmed at the same time by the Masons?

[MondoBeno]

"The Beales of Grey Gardens" has footage that wasn't in the original documentary.

[siltor67]

rent 'the beales of grey gardens'. it's another documentary

[allends612]

This def. one of the best scenes!  They said such profound things!

[denstevj]

My favorite scene- so happy I found it. Thanks!

[goldengirl67]

Roughshod - there's a word you don't hear today - but a great word regardless.

[thebigskynow]

my grampy B used to say that all the time in reference to the crappy carpentry of the new "developments" near his farm in connecticut... he was a STAUNCH yankee who believed in doing things with skill and care.. he was a great man.

[BernardProfitendieu]

where do you live that you don't hear that word on occasion? or the phrase "riding roughshod"?

[axuxaxux]

thanks for putting this up

[ajewell1284]

This clip is one of my favorites, despite it being completely contradictory. --Which isn't a bad thing. It's almost comforting to hear her honesty, but also very humane, comparable ignorance.

I love little Edie! :)