New York, Paris Theatre, 1976. The original program for the Maysles Brothers film with a green printed pictorial wrapper, 6 pp., photographically illustrated. Some light handling wear, minor spots to white areas on back cover. 9 x 6 inches (23 x 15 cm).
The rare program for Grey Gardens, one of the most popular and influential documentaries ever made. The program features early reviews of the film, production stills, and even a photograph depicting the Beales with filmmakers David and Albert Maysles. In 1972, Lee Radziwill, the sister of Jacqueline Kennedy Onnasis and first cousin to the Beales (all born as Bouviers), suggested the Maysles Brothers visit East Hampton to make a documentary about her idyllic childhood summers there. Introduced to the Beales through a visit to their once-grand Georgica Pond home, Grey Gardens, the Maysles Brothers scrapped the documentary on Radziwill and returned to East Hampton in 1974 to film what became Grey Gardens. Controversial and influential from its first release, as some claimed the Maysles Brothers exploited the Beales, who were struggling financially and with mental illness, to which Albert Maysles has replied, "as someone with a background in psychology, I knew better than to claim [the Beales] were mentally ill. Their behavior 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" (Alex Simon, "Albert Maysles: Gimme Some Truth" in The Hollywood Interview, 10 April 2014). This pamphlet is rare, before the success of the film made Grey Gardens an oft-parodied cult classic, and evocative of the mid-'70s era that gave rise to the direct cinema approach of American filmmaking.
New York, Paris Theatre, 1976. The original program for the Maysles Brothers film with a green printed pictorial wrapper, 6 pp., photographically illustrated. Some light handling wear, minor spots to white areas on back cover. 9 x 6 inches (23 x 15 cm).
The rare program for Grey Gardens, one of the most popular and influential documentaries ever made. The program features early reviews of the film, production stills, and even a photograph depicting the Beales with filmmakers David and Albert Maysles. In 1972, Lee Radziwill, the sister of Jacqueline Kennedy Onnasis and first cousin to the Beales (all born as Bouviers), suggested the Maysles Brothers visit East Hampton to make a documentary about her idyllic childhood summers there. Introduced to the Beales through a visit to their once-grand Georgica Pond home, Grey Gardens, the Maysles Brothers scrapped the documentary on Radziwill and returned to East Hampton in 1974 to film what became Grey Gardens. Controversial and influential from its first release, as some claimed the Maysles Brothers exploited the Beales, who were struggling financially and with mental illness, to which Albert Maysles has replied, "as someone with a background in psychology, I knew better than to claim [the Beales] were mentally ill. Their behavior 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" (Alex Simon, "Albert Maysles: Gimme Some Truth" in The Hollywood Interview, 10 April 2014). This pamphlet is rare, before the success of the film made Grey Gardens an oft-parodied cult classic, and evocative of the mid-'70s era that gave rise to the direct cinema approach of American filmmaking.