Grab your favorite raccoons, best head scarves, and oh, God, get ready for another winter, because it’s time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Albert and David Maysles’ landmark 1975 documentary, “Grey Gardens.”
To celebrate the film in style (the only way it could possibly be done), New York City’s Paris Theater is hosting a special screening of the documentary on Sunday, October 5. The one-time-only event will kick off at 2:00PM and be introduced by actress, model, and author Julia Fox (“Uncut Gems,” “Night Always Comes”), who will also chat with jewelry designer Alexis Bittar about the film’s continuing importance.
The film, which was co-directed by Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer, first premiered at the 1975 New York Film Festival at Alice Tully Hall, before opening at the Paris in February of 1976. (While the film earned mixed reviews upon its initial release, it long ago gained cult status, and remains a singular favorite.) The 581-seat single-screen theater temporarily closed in 2019, before being saved by Netflix just weeks later. In the years since, the streamer has used the theater to host all sorts of thrilling series, retrospectives, and special events like this upcoming “Grey Gardens” bonanza.
Expect a delightful collision of NYC’s film freaks and fashionistas to descend on the movie house next week. The impossibly intimate “Grey Gardens” introduced the world to Big and Little Edie Beale: mother and daughter, high-society dropouts, and reclusive cousins of Jackie Onassis. The two manage to thrive together amid the decay and disorder of their East Hampton, New York mansion, making for an eerily ramshackle echo of the American Camelot.
Since its debut five decades ago, obsession, interest, and affection for the film has not waned. It’s been both meticulously restored and lovingly parodied, it’s inspired documentary prequels and narrative recreations, and been the basis of endless Halloween costumes. Yet nothing quite compares to the real thing, a truly original documentary about truly original women.
Tickets are on sale now at the Paris Theater’s website, right here. You can even make a full day of it, as the Paris is also showing classics “How Green Was My Valley” and “Lawrence of Arabia” before and after the “Grey Gardens” screening.