Big Edie and Little Edie Argue Over Feeding Raccoons in Unearthed Grey Gardens Documentary (Exclusive)
"It's so exciting for us to see them," Lee Radziwill, the younger sister of Jackie O (and thus, the sister-in-law of John F. Kennedy), breathily says as she watches raccoons out a window in this exclusive clip from the documentary That Summer.
"How many are there?" her cousin, Edie "Big Edie" Beale, asks from her bed, and when she is informed there are two wandering around, decries, "Only two?! That's not interesting."
Big Edie and her daughter, Little Edie, became cultural icons because of the 1975 documentary Grey Gardens, but their story was nearly told before then. Now, director Göran Hugo Olsson has unearthed footage of the Beales from the summer of '72, during a visit Radziwill and her young children, Anthony and Christina, paid to the affable shut-ins. In this clip, while raccoons outside fight over slices of bread, Big and Little Edie fight inside over how the critters should be fed.
"That made them very sick. They vomited," Little Edie warns when her mother suggests feeding the raccoons sunflower mix. "That's hippy food! Throw it away!" "I want them to have it. It can be very expensive, two dollars a bag. Very expensive," Big Edie counters as Radziwill watches on and giggles. The disagreement escalates and soon they are bickering about eating cake, culminating in Big Edie crying out, "Oh, come on! Edie, please! Please don't tell lies to these children!"
That Summer, which opens in select theaters on May 18, features footage of Andy Warhol and Mick Jagger, among others, but here is a fascinating connection for Real Housewives fans: Lee Radziwill is mother-in-law to RHONY's Carole Radziwill, who was married to the late Anthony Radziwill, seen in the above clip.
Watch the trailer for That Summer:
Here is the documentary's official synopsis:
"In 1972, artist Peter Beard initiated a film project with Lee Radziwill (Jackie Onassis' sister) about her relatives, the Beales, for which they hired filmmakers David and Albert Maysles to help out. For various reasons, this project never did see the light of day -- though the Maysles returned of their own accord to the same material to make their now legendary documentary GREY GARDENS, which made icons out of Big and Little Edie. As fashioned into a feature, this extraordinary footage re-emerges in a film that focuses on Big and Little Edie before the clean-up that rendered Grey Gardens more livable, as they interact with Radziwill and reflect upon their past. It also focuses on Beard and his family of friends, including Andy Warhol, Mick Jagger and Truman Capote, who formed an enormously influential and vibrant creative community in Montauk, Long Island in the 1970s."
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