[Mrs. Beale] What are you
doing down there? Just standing there?
- [David Maysles] Just filming the main room
- [Edie] Whiskers!
[Mrs. Beale] Well, did you know that
Whiskers has disappeared?
- A cat got out I'm trying to get him in
- [David] Has he? Ah
Yeah, we don't know how he got out
I think he got out in that hole there
- No, I knew they were coming, and l...
- I think he got out in that hole
- He can jump up there
- I knew they were coming and...
Yeah No, he got out
in that hole, Edie
I put them all out
You told me to
No, dearie, he got out
in the hole, babe
"Take the cats out,"you said
- Did you hear what I said, woman?
- What?
He got out in this hole here
That was the noise we heard
That raccoon did that to my new wall
Isn't that terrible?
They'll have the whole house
down soon
[Edie]
Yeah, we'll be raided again
We'll be raided again
by the village of East Hampton
You know, they can get you in East Hampton
for wearing red shoes on a Thursday
and all that sort of thing
I don't know whether you know that
I mean, do you know that?
They can get you
for almost anything
- [Edie] It's the Maysles!
- [Albert Maysles] Hi, Edie
- [David] The gentlemen callers
- I saw your car
- One of my cats just got out
- Edie, you look fantastic
David, you look absolutely
terrific Honestly
You've got light...
You've got light blue on
Well, Al, you're still...
Mother says you're very conservative
[Laughs]
Brooks, everything looks wonderful
- Thank you
- Absolutely wonderful
This is the best thing
to wear for the day You understand
- Yeah
- Because I don't like women in skirts
and the best thing is to wear
pantyhose or some pants
under a short skirt, I think
Then you have the pants
under the skirt
and then you can pull the stockings
up over the pants, underneath the skirt
- Uh-huh
- And you can always take off
So I think this is the best
costume for the day
- Okay
- [Laughs]
I have to think
these things up, you know
Mother wanted me to come out
in a kimono, so we had quite a fight
So what did you do, photograph Brooks
cutting right down here?
- Yeah, I've been through the jungle
- Oh, for goodness sakes
What do you want to do now?
Where do you want to go? Upstairs?
Do you want to go up
and photograph it from the top porch?
- Okay
- Okay
They're gonna photograph
from the top now, Brooks
[David]
It's a beautiful garden back here
Did you see the wall garden?
- Oh, you mean the patio You mean this
- Yeah
That's a Spanish wall garden
over there, you know
- Oh, yes
- The Hills put that in
They imported everything from Rome
Mrs. Hill, she was
a famous horticulturist
That was one of the famous
gardens of America
Brooks, next summer,
if we're all living
I think a vegetable garden
would be a good thing in here
You don't get
enough sunlight in here
Yeah, Mother says she doesn't mind if you
have to cut down some privet for the garden
- Would be nice
- Yeah
Because food's going up
We heard that on the radio last night
Do you think my costume looked all right
for Brooks? I think he was a little amazed
- He's probably seen it before
- No, no This is the revolutionary costume
I never wear this in East Hampton
[David] He seems okay
He seems like he can handle it
[Edie] You can't be too careful
Know what I mean?
That was the original living room
You know, people go back
to a kitchen now
Though the washing machine was always
put in the maids' dining room
You know, the washtubs are
in the maids' dining room
- Let's go up
- It's very difficult
to keep the line between
the past and the present
Do you know what I mean?
It's awfully difficult
[Mrs. Beale] That is
a beautiful ocean today, isn't it?
What color would you say that was?
Sort of sapphire?
I've never seen
anything like that ocean
The 50 years I've been here...
the best in 50 years
Oh, Edie, are you around?
- Oh, Edie!
- I haven't been out of this goddamn horrible place
in two years
God, if you knew how I felt
I'm ready to kill
Well, they're not going
to take you to the beach
- Brooks wants his his check, Mother darling
- All right, give me the...
- He's at the door
- I told you I should do it now
Twenty-four bucks for three cuttings
Just a minute
I told you... Better bring the pen
I locked all the cats away
- [Cats Meowing]
- Don't be so mean They don't wanna be locked away
The poor little kitties
You know kitties adore sun
I suppose I won't get out
of here till she dies or I die
- Who's she? The cat?
- I don't know when I'm gonna get out of here
- Why do you want to get out?
Another place'd be much worse
- Any place will be much worse
- Here
- Any place on earth
- Yeah, but I like freedom
Well, you can't get it, darling
You're being supported
- You can't get any freedom
when you're being supported
- You can't?
- No, you can't
- I think you're not free when
you're not being supported
- It's awful both ways
- Well, you don't look it
You look very young
for 56 years of age
Don't you remember
what you told me...
- I'd just like a couple of days on the beach, that's all
- What was it you told me?
- Twenty-four bucks
- You don't have to scream that out
When are you gonna learn, Edie?
You're in this world, you know
You're not out of the world
[Edie Sighs]
Let's see if I can remember the date
Is it the 12th today?
- Well, there are certain compensations, I guess
- Is it the 12th today?
The old woman, she has to remember
everything, you know that
I think this is correct
Brooks Hiers H-I-E-R-S
- Oh, I didn't think it was necessary
- Yes
Why didn't you let me do this in the house for?
Why did you make me do it here?
Mother, you don't have
enough clothes on
Well, I hope... I'm gonna get naked in
just a minute, so you better watch out
- That's what I'm afraid of
- Yeah, for what? Now, why?
- I haven't got any warts on me
- But the movie, the movie
- I haven't got any warts on me
- That isn't the point, Mother darling
Well, you know where you got,
being like that
No husband, no babies, nothing
I can't help it
I like to wear certain things
- Is that H-Y-E-R? H-Y?
- She likes everything without girdles
- H-Y, Edie, or H-I?
- H-Y-E-R-S
- H-Y?
- Yeah
She and Marjorie don't believe
in wearing girdles
I haven't worn a girdle
since I was 12 years old
- Here you are
- Mother has certain ideas about, uh...
- I certainly have certain ideas about living a long time
- About clothes
- That's what I got ideas about
- [Door Closes]
It's very hard to live nowadays
Living is very difficult
"The Libra husband
is not an easy man to please
"The monotony of domesticity
is not to his liking
but he is a passionate man
and a respecter of tradition"
All I have to do
is find this Libra man
"The Libra husband is reasonable
"He is a born judge
"and no other zodiacal type
"can order his life
with so much wisdom"
My God!
That's all I need... order
That's all I need... an ordered life
You know, a manager
But he's got to be a Libran
[Man]
Hello
Yeah?
- That sounds like Jerry
- Oh, is that Jerry? For goodness sakes
- [Edie Laughing]
- What are you doing?
Jerry, you're Aquarius, aren't you?
That's what I saw
when I met you, Jerry
- Remember I said the Marble Faun,
and it was terrible
Terrible, the tragedy
connected with the Marble Faun
- You know, I call Jerry "the Marble Faun"
- Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Yeah
- Yeah
Do you have that book here, Edie?
I haven't been able to find it
If you run across it,
I'd like to read it
It's very deep I don't know whether
you... Well, I guess you're up to it
They used to have it
on all the, uh...
I think it was on the high school
reading list The Marble Faun
"The Libra husband
does not seek divorce
"unless the conditions of his life
are not adjustable"
I don't believe in divorce at all
- I think divorce...
- Was your mother divorced or no?
- No
- Separated
Yes, and then my father got a,
got a fake Mexican divorce
and he did have, you know,
what he called another wife
But we didn't recognize it It wasn't
recognized by the Catholic Church
They don't recognize it, you know
Say, are you bossing me around, Edie?
All afternoon?
- [Edie] I think that's terrific
- Oh, Edie, it's not the best one
This is the worst one
of my wedding pictures
The others look worse
I was gonna be a singer, you know
A professional singer
When I met Mr. Beale,
the jig was up
Do you remember this?
- May I see that, please?
- The villain of the piece
"To my best friend and
most delightful comrade
"to my only sweetheart
and wonderful wife
"I tender this likeness
of her husband
Phelan Beale, 1929"
- So we did love each other
- Did I laugh when I read that
Aren't kids terrible?
I just roared
When the people don't speak,
they never get divorced
- You just can't tell
- I've been a very happy woman all my life
Shall I tell them about Gould?
Gould was Mother's accompanist
He was a boogie-woogie composer
who had the most terrific style
He was the most brilliant man
I've ever met
That's including Mr. Beale
and Mr. Bouvier
Completely brilliant
This is cute, Mother
I like that very much
Don't you, David?
You said Michelle Beale
stole this, didn't you, Edie?
I never did
She'd never do that
See how fat I was, Edie?
Did I look like a good mother?
Was I a good mother?
- [David] It looks like it
- What? Looks like it
I didn't starve my children,
did I? What?
Fed 'em Fed 'em well
[Mrs. Beale] They were very nice children
I enjoyed them tremendously
I'm crazy about my two sons,
absolutely mad about them
- [David] Who's the little girl?
- [Edie] That's me
[Mrs. Beale] Well, the boys were,
were not hard to handle at all
- They were very easy to handle
- Oh, my mother never saw my brothers
I saw them every minute,
every single minute
- Oh, they never got any discipline, my brothers
- They didn't need it
- They were absolutely perfect
- They never got any discipline
This was taken with a tiny
little Kodak Number Two
That was Kodak Number Two
Cost two dollars, that camera
- Mother, I'm mad about these pictures of you
- Oh, no, don't take those
- We'll just put them right over here
- Oh, no, I want those out
- Will you give me those, please?
- No, you can't have them
I want them, Edie I will never see them again
Now, I want those pictures
- I want those pictures, Edie
- You can't expose them to the light in here
No, give me those pictures
I don't want to ask 67 times
- Come on
- I want to show that to Al
- No, I want...
- I wanna show it to Al!
- It's my picture
- Look what you made me do
Well, you did it
Look what she did
- Mrs. Beale had a classical face I want you to see this
- Look at what she did
- Look Very few people have this
- Don't touch that!
Al, I want you to see this
- [Edith Laughing]
- Now look, this is my mother
This British blood,
maybe Jewish, I don't know
In the Leaman family, I'm not sure
- I don't want that photographed
- Scotch blood... the Ewings
- Imagine showing those horrible things
I don't want you to show
But it's just a girl
from a good French family
It's a very beautiful face
[Mrs. Beale] I lived alone at least 30 years
l-I didn't mind
You get very independent
when you live alone
You get to be a real individual
- You can't have your cake and eat it too in life
- Oh, yes, I did
I did I had my cake, loved it,
masticated it, chewed it
- and had everything I wanted
- You can't have your cake and eat it too
I had a very, very happy,
satisfying life
Well, you had a rich husband
You should have stayed with him
- Now you might as well face it
- What! For money?
- She was bored
- Why, I was not I was a great singer
I had a perfect marriage,
beautiful children
Terribly successful marriage
Never had a fight in my life
- I never threw anything at Mr. Beale Never
- [Laughing]
They threw the bull around,
as they say
No, I never had any words
with Mr. Beale at all
I came down here to live in this,
in this house because I did all my singing here
I was so happy I was happier
going out and singing
than anything I've ever done
since I was born
I liked it better
than anything I ever did
- I can't find it, Mother
- Well, you could let me help you
- Let me...
- Listen, kid I'm extremely organized
I know exactly where
to look for this stuff
I've got it under control
right here, but I can't find it
Get it?
Well, bring in the...
bring in the orchestration
of"Tea for Two"
I can't do it
My feet hurt
Just try, babe
They're beautiful
I have to get my voice exactly back
the way it was when I was 45 years old
- You can't, Mother darling
- Oh, yes, I can Oh, yes!
- Something happens, face it
- I never strained my voice ever in my life
- Oh, but I strain my voice
from yelling and screaming
- What is the matter with me?
I could never speak again
Why, I can get it back in about a month,
just about You know, good hard work
(music) When we are together
together, hmmm (music)
Gould and Mother
made this record in 1934
- Sing it, babe, Just sing it
- He was Mother's accompanist
(music) We belong together (music)
(music) We're happy together (music)
(music) And life is a song (music)
(music) When we are together (music)
(music) We know we are where we belong (music)
(music) When we are together (music)
- (music) Like birds of a feather (music)
- (music) Of a feather (music)
- (music) Together we thrive (music)
- (music) Together we thrive (music)
- (music) Little caring whether (music)
- (music) Little caring whether (music)
- (music) The rest of the world... (music)
- (music) The rest of the world... (music)
- [Record Sticks]
- Oh, my heart, what happened?
- That's pretty, that note
- Terrific
Oh, that's terrible
Oh, I see It repeats
Yes, that's very important,
that last
- That's the "cazenza,"
"cadenza," whatever you call it
Do you want that?
Aren't you mad about your record?
I was very serious
about my singing Loved it
After you hear that,
you realize nothing is...
- Important
- No, it isn't Nothing
Well, my mother, you know, she gave me
the right slant on my voice
She told me to leave everything,
to leave everything
No man could compete
against Mrs. Beale and Gould
- We were pretty good
- No man in the world
Well, I worked hard
I wish you would play "Laura"
Imagine bothering about anything
when she had a talent like that?
Well, I had to take care of this house
I lived on no money
You were able to save
the house on account of me
- Yeah, I think that...
- I didn't want to live in East Hampton
but I had to on account
of Mother's house
Well, now you see why you lived,
because you had music all the time
That's why
And you went to the beach too
- That's what you liked
- Those are the only things
Well, I think
you liked your dancing
- You were very good at that
- (music) [Phonograph: "Tea for Two"]
[Edie]
This is Kostelanetz
Did you see the, uh...
the play on Broadway?
"No, No, Nanette"
(music) Tea for two, and two for tea (music)
(music) And me for you, and you for me (music)
(music) Alone (music)
(music) to hear us
so see us or hear us (music)
(music) No friends or relations
and weekend vacations (music)
(music) We won't have it known, dear
that we own a telephone, no (music)
(music) I'll awake and start to bake (music)
(music) A sugar cake for you to take (music)
(music) Mmm, for all the boys to see (music)
(music) We can raise a family (music)
(music) A girl for you, a boy for me (music)
(music) Oh, can't you see how happy (music)
(music) We could be (music)
(music) Tea for two (music)
If Edie was any good, the soft shoe's out
If she was any good at all
It's all soft shoe now, you know
- This is a dance Come on, Edie
- [Laughs]
I used to do it myself, you know
I did that... the soft shoe
(music) See us or hear us (music)
(music) No friends or relations
and weekend vacations (music)
(music) They won't have it known, dear
that we own a telephone (music)
(music) No, no, no (music)
(music) But I'll awake and start to bake (music)
(music) A sug-sug-sugar cake-cake-cake (music)
(music) See for all the boys to see (music)
(music) We can raise a family (music)
(music) A girl for you, a boy for me (music)
(music) Oh, can't you see (music)
(music) How happy we would be (music)
Edie, dance to that
A waltz Come on Get Edie up
Dance A waltz
How can you resist that?
[Coughing]
How can you resist that?
(music) Oh, la-la (music)
(music) La, da, ah, ah (music)
(music) Oh, can't you see (music)
(music) How happy (music)
(music) We would be (music)
- (music) Would be (music)
- Terrific Isn't that terrific?
Isn't that a beautiful chord?
I'm mad about Kostelanetz
[Laughing] Do you think
I'm gonna look funny dancing?
- [Both] No
- I do terrific dances
I only care about three things:
The Catholic Church,
swimming and dancing
- And I had to give them up
- Dave, it opens from the bottom
I've got enough I almost die
with the fleas in this place
I can't go on another year
I have to get to a hotel room
Well, I have... I brought
a lot of stuff for your fleas
and I'll be more than willing
to put it down
All I want is a little room
[Laughing]
I can't stand a country house
In the first place,
it makes me terribly nervous
I'm scared to death of doors, locks,
people roaming around in the background
under the trees, in the bushes
I'm absolutely terrified
I'm not a bit terrified
of the city, not a bit
I like the terrible noise
you hear at night
and all these terrible
drilling sounds
I never go to sleep unless
the whole pavement is jumping outside
and it's a hundred degrees
and that drill is just going...
[Makes Grunting Noise]
And then I just go to sleep
[Propeller Plane Overhead]
[Laughs]
I only hope it stays up
(music) At the Balalaika (music)
I haven't got my makeup on
[Whispering] My God,
do you think it's gonna stay up?
I feel something slipping
I feel something...
[Edie]
What am I missing?
We'll almost have to listen
to Peale in about five seconds
She doesn't like the Catholic Church
She gets mad whenever I go
Oh, go on What the hell?
I worship the Catholic Church
I'm gonna invite Father Huntington over
to spend the whole entire night with me
- That's what I'm gonna do
I love the church so much
[Giggles]
- [Radio Tuning]
- Here it is
[Radio: Norman Vincent Peale]
To get on top of things and to stay there
- Does that mean women too?
- For if you do not do this
it is very likely that things
will get on top of you
Isn't he terrific?
And since I always believe
in a simple formula that is workable
I have a formula for you now
First: Try, really try
Try, really try
Second: Think, really think
Cute Think, really think
And third: Believe, really believe
- [Radio Tuning]
- Well, you may say, "How many times
Why, it may be a good many times
For example, I have in my pocket here
a letter from a man in London, England
"Dear Dr Peale,
Over three years ago
"I was in your great Marble
Collegiate Church for the first time
"and I was having it rough
- [Snickers]
- "The job I'd been doing
- [Laughing]
- [Mrs. Beale] Your age, old gal
"Your suggestion lived with me,
plus the advice to try, really try, :
- He lived I never lived
- "think, really think, : Believe, really believe
"I did think I did work
very hard to find a job
Eighty-eight interviews"
So did he
or did he not get the job?
He did
Will he or will he not
handle himself
in the years that are to come?
He wasn't emotional
He didn't get upset
- He wasn't nervous
- He wasn't me
He was cool
Now one thing is sure:
The human mind will not function
when it is hot
- Only when it is cool and dispassionate
- Dispassionate
- That was the word I wanted to other day
- will it produce
I couldn't think of what it was
I think it would be a good idea
if every day every individual
would look at himself
in the mirror
earnestly, and ask the question
"Who am I?
Am I a weak person?
Am I a defeated person?
Am I an inferior person?"
Not at all
I am a child of God
and I was intended
to get on top of things
and I was intended to stay there
- (music) Amen, amen (music)
- Very good That was very long
- Very long
- You notice how he went on and on and on?
Let's hear the prayer
I mean the song You sing the song now
- Doxology
- Sing it
[Announcer] You have been listening
to Dr Norman Vincent Peale
- as he spoke this morning from his pulpit
- No emotionalism
- at Marble Collegiate Church
- Never give up You want to keep on top
Way up high up on top
Wonderful way to smother somebody
[Laughing] Would you pass
your mirror over here?
I've got to see what I look like
- [Laughing]
- Don't drop it
- Uptight
- That was wonderful
I see why I've got cataracts
I have astigmatism,
one eye pulled against the other
and I should've worn glasses
and I didn't
- Oh, I told you to wear glasses
- Is there anything else you want to know?
- You got with the glasses about four years ago
- I'll tell you about my teeth
Four years ago, Edie You got
the glasses, and you didn't wear them
- My teeth are still all right
- You have to wear the glasses
You have to
[Laughs]
And my hair will grow
I hope Here
[David]
You're dressed for battle, Edie
Mother's telling Marjorie how
spoiled I am, how terrible I am
And Marjorie knew my father
and my uncle and everybody
Mother's giving her
all this S-H-l-
so I went and told her
some things about the family
But, you see, in dealing with me
the relatives didn't know
that they were dealing
with a staunch character
And I tell you, if there's anything
worse than a staunch woman...
S-T-A-U-N-C-H
There's nothing worse,
I'm telling you
[Sighs]
They don't weaken no matter what
But they didn't know that
Well, how were they to know?
You know, my father had made up his mind
about what Farmington produced
and what the
Sacred Heart Convent produced
I don't think he was so down
on the Spence School
but he certainly was down
on Farmington
I don't know why
Farmington was a junior college
You could choose
what you wanted to study
Perhaps that was what made
my father dislike it so...
that I could choose
But I chose what I thought
he'd want me to choose...
you know, English literature and
Oriental philosophies and, uh
well, I always took French,
but nothing ever happened there
I can read and write in French,
but I can't speak it
I had years and years
and years of French
Terrible
[Laughs]
This was taken by Amy Dupont
my last year in Farmington
I was 17
- [David] Edie, that's so beautiful
- Mr. Wainwright did that
He was an artist from a very good
family He was in the social register
He did it in the solarium
of Grey Gardens
David, look at this
I was in a fashion show
- [Laughs]
- [Mrs. Beale] Let me see that
[Albert]
Oh, beautiful Look at that, David
- [Mrs. Beale] May I see that?
- Wow! Look at that
[Edie] I thought I was
the cat's pajamas in that!
[Mrs. Beale] You did, Edie See how
pretty Edie was when she was young?
It's perfectly foolish of her
not to look that way now
She could, you know, if she
didn't worry about everything
Didn't she look like a girl
that had everything? Huh?
[Edie]
This has inspired me
I'll have to get another
brown tailored suit and grow my hair
My God, I have no hair
[Mrs. Beale] You never put any
lipstick on for this picture, did you?
- I have another kind on
- You look horrible
Why didn't you put
lipstick and makeup on?
[Edie] Mr. Beale smashed
the window of Burt Bacharach
when he put this in the window
on upper Madison Avenue
- [Mrs. Beale] For God's sakes
- He offered me a job
He didn't say to get out
of that family situation
but he said,
"You need a job, Miss Beale"
[David] Didn't you expect that Edie
might get married someday?
[Mrs. Beale]
Oh, I did I wanted her to
Oh, I picked out some nice men
She didn't like the men I picked out
[Edie]
They were horrible
[Mrs. Beale] She could have married
this Gerald Getty
He was a millionaire, :
He gave her a gorgeous ring
She decided not to marry that guy
She had to give the ring back
She has a proposal of marriage
from Paul Getty
Remember Paul,
the richest man in the world?
[Edie]
He married Teddy Lynch
[Mrs. Beale] Then you could
have married Jordan McClanahan
He was another millionaire,
and he wanted to marry you
She just didn't want to get married
That's all blamed on me
[Edie]
No, I never fell in love until I was 31
[Mrs. Beale] Well, how old
are you in these pictures?
- Twenty-four
- Twenty-four That old?
- 1940
- Very young looking for twenty-four
France had just fallen
to Hitler
- But you never fell for a man
- Paris, Paris, excuse me
France fell, but Edie didn't fall
That was the thing
See, l...
They didn't tell us that
when we studied World War I
that everything was so awful
with the Versailles Treaty
that we were soon going to get into
something four years after I got out
If I'd only known it,
I would have just...
just enjoyed every single minute,
just done everything
[David] It must've been tough
on people I remember as a kid
so many loved ones being killed
But you were the dating age
A lot of my friends went
overseas and got married
They went in the Red Cross
They went to India, Australia
They all got married
One of my best friends
went to Australia
If I'd have been able to go, she
might have persuaded me to go with her
And she met somebody
in the hospital
She was working for the Red Cross,
and she never came back to New York
But I never had a chance
to do anything like that
'cause Mother wasn't well
during the war
She had her eye operation
I missed out on everything
I missed out on the reunion
of my graduating class in Farmington
because that was the fall that
Jack Kennedy campaigned to get in
and I was stuck here with Mother,
the cats, the house and T Logan
and I couldn't go
- No, you said you didn't want them
to know how old you were
- No, I think...
- "Well, I didn't want them
No, I would have enjoyed that, Mother,
because Jack Kennedy campaigned to get in and won
Get in the Farmington School?
That'd be a good place for him
I don't know I think
it would have been a lot of fun
Yeah, everything's good
that you didn't do
At the time, you didn't want it
- I couldn't get away
- Well, that's the choice
- You can't go back and say...
feel gorgeous right now
- and say, "Oh, why didn't I do this?"
- I couldn't leave
Because you didn't feel then
the way you do now
Everybody thinks and feels differently
as the years go by, don't they?
- Yeah
- Yes
- What time is it, chickens?
- [David] What time is it?
- I want to go in now
- It's, uh, 1:30
- I may need David's hand to get up
- You have it
Where is it?
Can you come around this way?
- Sure
- Are you taking pictures?
Always Here
[Edie]
"Two roads diverged in yellow wood
"and pondering, pondering both
or pondering each...
"pondering one I took the other
and that made all the difference"
- [Mrs. Beale] Robert Frost
- Isn't that wonderful?
- Did he say that?
- That's all you need... just three lines like that
- Come on, Edie, is that Robert Frost?
- Who else?
I thought it was you
I think your poetry is better
- "Two road diverged in yellow wood
- Come on, you said that
- We want something else
- "and pondering one, I took the other
- Edie, you're not teaching us
- and that made all the difference"
- We don't want to learn it It's very pretty
- Isn't that amazing?
No, I don't think it's
half as good as your poems
They looked the same, and he probably
couldn't tell and yet he...
I wish I could remember
the correct lines
I'm absolutely exhausted
I danced eight hours last night
practicing the, uh...
the marching song
- [Albert] Great
- My God, my muscles!
I can't do it, I'm telling you
What am I gonna do?
They're gone
with this soft life
[Laughing]
(music) We all march together
for love is behind (music)
(music) We all stand together
United we die (music)
(music) We all march together
for we love the land (music)
(music) It's the spirit of VMI (music)
(music) We all march together
for life is unkind (music)
[Laughing]
When they do that, that's
when the plane goes by, see?
So I'm doing
the VMI marching song
which is a ground maneuver
Anyway, I've got to get it all
coordinated in my mind
Hey, Mother,
I'm working on my dance
- [Mrs. Beale] I'm starving
- (music) We all march together (music)
- (music) For life is unkind (music)
- You see, she doesn't want to eat
so I have to sit here
and starve all the time
- How can I eat and look sexy too?
- I think I lost five pounds
- I'm gonna die
- Well, don't live with me I want to eat
- Will you eat some liver pate?
- It's not awfully good
- lf you put lemon with it, it's all right
- I'm gonna die with this diet
- I don't like it at all
- Don't do it Have a sandwich
I got fat not wearing
clothes for two years
Oh, that wasn't it at all It was
the quarts and quarts of ice cream
My bill was $ 171 just for ice cream
- Here's your liver pate
- You have to make it I can't No, I can't
I ate in front of the Maysles
the other day You have to make it
I was very embarrassed No
I ate all that chicken...
- Oh, Mother, I should have stolen that blue...
- Take it out, babe
You like the green?
That's chartreuse there
- What do I do with this?
- You have crackers somewhere
- Should I put it on crackers?
- Yeah You should...
It needs a lemon
or mayonnaise or something
When am I gonna get out of here?
[Laughing]
Oh, she's always talking like that
When I get to New York, you're never
gonna get me back to East Hampton
- Oh, that's silly Oh, Edie, that isn't nice
- Ever Never!
Edie, the man is doing this
For goodness sakes! That's terrible!
When I get to New York, brother,
I'm not ever coming back
Well, you got in awful trouble there
It's a good thing you had a place to come to
- Recuperate at Mama's for about 15 to 20 years
- [Edie Grumbling]
She had a horrible time I used to
have to send her big boxes of groceries
She was starving
From my grocer's thing down there
- I was discovered
- Sent her big boxes of groceries
- but I needed training
- And I always put a bottle of wine in her bag
I thought she'd have
a terrible accident
Well, I was discovered, but...
well, never mind
Oh, I wouldn't say anything good
happened to you in New York
- Are you kidding?
- No
I was discovered by Mr. Gordon
He was a friend of Mrs.
- Well, what is it?
- What was that woman's name?
- People discover me every time I go out, but
- What was Ruby Chapman's...
- I don't think anything of it
- This is serious! He went to pieces!
- Mr. Max Gordon went out of his mind
- Oh, not Max Gordon
- He never went to pieces in his life
- He did!
- He did not A very...
- Now, what was the woman's name?
She gave me the letter
Mrs. Hitchcock
- I can't go back to ancient history
- Ruby Chapman's partner!
How can you remember so long?
Now I'll have to get drunk
- They gave me the letter to Max Gordon
- I'll have to start drinking
I can't take it Ah, she'll make
a drunkard out of her mother
What crackers do you want? We'll take these
Do you mind? They're very good
- Do you want these?
- I don't like crackers You know that
Just put a lemon on it
Little lemon
Don't you know who Max Gordon is?
He's a famous producer
You've heard of him, haven't you?
- He discovered Judy Holliday
- [Mrs. Beale, Indistinct]
He discovered Judy Holliday
He said I was much funnier
Well, you haven't
been funny today, boy
You're lacking in humor
It's how you are
when you grow older
I needed training
Where was I to get the training?
- You start when you're 12 I had mine when I was 12
- Oh, stop
(music) [Humming March]
This cracker's for the photographer
Tell me what,
what I should have done
Here, could you put this
away, please, Edie?
- I should have immediately
tried to get into something?
Until it gets frozen, will you?
David, instead of coming home
I should have tried to get into
something, is that it?
David, do you think you and Al
should have told Edie to lose weight?
- She's been impossible
- Do you think I should have
[David]
What does your mother think?
- [Mrs. Beale] I had everything picked out
- My father was alive!
- That was it My father was alive
- I was going around with a...
- My father was alive
- Do you want to hear what I have to say?
Mr. Beale would have
had me committed
Gould and I were at Edie
every day to go to Traphagen
She could do anything
She could learn toe dancing
She could learn radio She could learn
all sorts of stage dancing
- Why was I gonna do this?
- She could do...
The things we told you
We told you to go to Bendel's
- I couldn't go with my mother sitting here, David
- and model earrings
- I couldn't go with my mother sitting here
- You were so gorgeous in hats
and you had such a beautiful
face and we always adored you
And we said, "Why, she should do hats,"
and she had gorgeous feet
And Mr. Beale always made her wear
a certain kind of shoe when she was a little girl
Orthopedic shoe
And she, she could have...
I had deep responsibility
for you, Mother
I was taken care of for 25 years!
Ah, the hallmark of aristocracy
is responsibility, is that it?
[Propeller Plane Overhead]
I'm not gonna spend this winter
in East Hampton In the first place, I can't
I just can't I can't spend
another winter out here in the country
I can't do it
I don't enjoy it
Furthermore, I'm telling you, I can't get
my figure back unless I hit New York City
You know
That icebox is too near
I've gotta get away
from that icebox
(music) [Humming March]
[Edie]
They all want luncheon
Come on
We're gonna have luncheon
[Yells]
What?
- [Mrs. Beale] Edie!
- What?
I fed the cats!
I just have to leave for New York City
and lead my own life
I don't see any other future
[Mrs. Beale] Will you shut up!
It's a goddamn beautiful day!
Shut up!
Paris is the place for you Get on
stage in Paris at the Follies Bergere
The point is that I came down
here to take care of my mother
I'm sick and tired of worrying
about her night and day
- Well, I had a very good...
- I was away from her for five or six years
- I had a very good man
- And I was sick and tired of lying awake at night
- He took care of me for 25 years
- wondering what was happening to my mother
She didn't have to worry
[David] Who was the man
that took care of you for 25 years?
- Twenty-three years
- Nobody took care of her for 25 years
- I took care of this damn house for 25 years
- I'm, I'm on the air
Dare say my mother was ever taken care
of by any man but my father
and I'll push you
under the goddamned bed!
[David] No, Edie,
I think Al was referring to Gould
Yes, he was
He took care of Mother by accompanying
her to the movies and playing the piano
Took care of me and the washing...
No one took care of Mrs. Beale She had
my father's money and her own money
- What money?
- The Bouvier money
And another thing, Mrs. Beale
wasn't taken care of sexually
I think he was nicer than anybody
I've ever known in my whole life
He was a writer
He wrote seven books at one time
He was brilliant And he played
the piano magnificently
and composed exquisite music
and dedicated about 80 songs to me
- So Edie didn't have to worry
- No, she didn't have to worry the way she did, no
She made me leave the Barbizon
Well, I thought you'd been
in New York long enough
- You were getting lines in your face
- But I didn't want to leave
- I was getting my big chance
- Oh, no, you were not
That married man was not going
to give you any chance at all
- I was getting my audition in 1952!
- You were not
- I was going to get it!
- Well, you didn't get it You missed out
I was just getting up
what you call a little nerve
Now, listen, you're wasting that thing
on this, 'cause it's just nuts
- When she said I had to come home
- I thought you should come home
- She started high-pressuring me
to come back in March of 1952
and she kept it up
until the end of July
- And July 29th, I check out, got on the train
- Well, you should come down
- came back, and was never able to get back
- It's very hot in New York
It's very hot in New York
on July 29th
[Meowing]
[Mrs. Beale] "You and the Night
and the Music "It's beautiful
- Do you know that one? You do know it?
- Mm-hmm Sure
Do you really?
Sing it for me Sing it
(music) The night was young
and you're so beautiful (music)
No "You and the Night and the Music"
Sing that song
- I don't know that I thought you meant...
- You thought you did
- [Albert] (music) You and the night and the music (music)
- He knows it
- Go on
- I don't know the rest of it
"Fill me with flaming desire"
The words are wonderful
(music) Love like yours and mine (music)
(music) Is a glowing thrill (music)
(music) Of sparkling wine (music)
(music) Make the most of time (music)
(music) Ere it has flown (music)
(music) You and the night and the music (music)
(music) Thrill me with flaming desire (music)
(music) Setting my being (music)
(music) Completely on fire (music)
(music) Oh, you and the night and the music (music)
(music) Dance till the music is through (music)
I forgot Oh, listen,
this is it "Love"
(music) Till the moment is through (music)
(music) After the night (music)
(music) And the music die (music)
(music) Will I have you (music)
[Mrs. Beale]
Edie! Oh, Edie!
- Where's Jerry, Edie? Edie, where's Jerry?
- I don't know, Mother
- That's what I'm wondering
- Don't you think you'd better find him?
Mother wants me to watch him
the whole time he's in the house
- No, you told me not to have him back here
- Like I watched Tom
- No, thanks
- My eyes dropped out Mother and her friends
I never cared for the three
people that my mother liked
I couldn't get on with Mr. Beale
and I didn't care
for her composer friend
and as for Tom Logan,
he drove me crazy in the house
[Mrs. Beale] I loved Tom
He played the guitar so beautifully
He sang and was in a rodeo,
and even was in Hollywood
You'd have to admire
somebody like that
- She was a pushover
- He had no place to go
And then he asked my mother, he said,
"I've just been fired from the Sea Spray
Would you like a maintenance man?"
Mother took him home
I didn't want a maintenance man
I said, "I'll take you home for one night"
- That's the story of Tom Logan
- That's what I said
There wasn't a thing
he didn't know how to do
He could fix anything
Lights, plumber things
He knew how to do everything
Just one of those terribly clever men
He couldn't do any work He made good
salads, but he was drunk all the time
Oh, no He came up here every morning
at 6:00, knocked on my door
We talked over the menu for the day
Including a half a bottle
of rose vin
or wine or whatever it's called
Naturally, we couldn't get rid
of him, and I had to stay here
What I should have done is leave,
and he would have left right away
All right, you don't believe
in religious compulsion It was a religious thing
- If I had left, he would have left
- No, I deserve...
- Because the work would have been too much
- He didn't want to go
All alone in the house for Tom
All I had to do was leave I'm so stupid that I...
Well, where would I have been?
I'd have been all alone in the house
I think you would have, Mother
- [Mrs. Beale] Edie! Yoo-hoo!
- What?
The Marble Faun is at the door
He can wait
Let Jerry in. Hurry up
I'm gonna look at this path
without Jerry
(music) [Humming]
This is a sea of leaves
A complete sea of leaves
If you lose something, you can't
find it again, : It drops to the bottom
I lost my scarf
I'll never get it again
Best scarf I ever owned
The most beautiful color of blue
It dropped
You know, it fell off my head
[Whispering]
To hell with the Marble Faun
- Hello?
- Hello, Edie
Oh, hello, jerry darling
Do you want to come in?
I just came for the faucet
so I can get down to the hardware store
- Yeah, Mother said you called
Was that you on the phone very early?
How are you?
I'm looking at you now
Really well
I'll come down and let you in
Do you want to come up here?
- You want to come up?
- All right, for a moment
Mother's screaming to have me
let you in I'd better do it
I'll be at the back door
here, okay?
I'll come right down
- jerry's puffing and blowing
- No I'm tired, and I don't want to get any tireder.
What do you want, jerry?
Who wants a nice piece of corn?
No I don't want any
Thank you
Jerry, you didn't get
enough to eat tonight
- Well, I can't resist I'm sorry
- The margarine
Jerry, you're gonna put
some of this on, aren't you?
- You wanna do it for me?
- Why, yeah The pleasure's all mine
If I don't burn myself
Which piece of corn
do you want, jerry?
- Doesn't matter
- See how polite he is?
You want some, Edie?
Where's your plate, Jerry, for it?
- I couldn't eat in front of the camera
- I've got very big hands
- [Edie Laughs]
- This corn is out of this world
Oh, did I do it nicely? He always
compliments me on the way I do my corn
[Mrs. Beale Chuckles]
- [Clattering]
- [Edie] There they are
There are your raccoons Run away
from your drinks and do that to your raccoons
[Albert]
Hear him?
[Edie]
Yeah, he's there I can hear him
Everything's in the attic,
everything from sloths, otters
badgers, uh, possums, raccoons
I don't leave the bags anymore
'Cause I had to get up to 200
cellophane bags this, uh...
Horrors Somebody's removing
the books from my room
Where did this little book
come from?
[Jerry]
Edie!
[Mrs. Beale]
That's Jerry He locked himself out
No, jerry hasn't locked himself out
[Chuckles]
He locked himself out
[Mrs. Beale]
Who's knocking at the door?
[Jerry]
Who is it?
[Whispering]
He's around there
Who got this book out of my room?
I cleaned this whole attic up the other day
Now, who's been dropping books
around is what I want to know
I would have seen that book
He evidently has been
up in that room reading it
All right, Buster, old pal,
come and get it
[Mrs. Beale] There's somebody
knocking at the door, Edie
Yeah, all right, Mother
- [Heavy Knocking]
- Yes?
[Man]
Is Jerry here?
Oh, yes I'll get him for you
Just a minute Hey, jerry
- Yeah?
- I think your friend's in the, in the, uh, front
I found a little book
dropped in the attic, Mother
- He's been up there
- Well, you should keep him out
He told me he was working
on that thing, : He wasn't at all
- Want a little bit, Edie?
- No
- You don't want a little bit?
- [David Mutters]
- My God!
- What?
- I just thought of something
- What?
Give me that What did you think of?
What? Come on
[Whispering]
The guy was standing outside the window
and he was passing books out to him
- You think so, Edie?
- Yes
- I don't believe all that
- Yes!
I don't believe it
Want a taste, Edie?
- I don't want any
- No We lost the glasses The glasses are gone
Next thing, those antiques
will all be missing
See, you shouldn't have
a contact with the outside world
because how do I know that
there isn't something up in that room?
If you get what I mean
You can't tell what's
been put up in that room
or what's been taken out
- [Sighs]
- Don't worry so much, please
This cat's going to the bathroom
right in back of my portrait
- Oh, isn't that awful?
- No, I'm glad he is
I'm glad somebody's doing
something they want to do
[David Laughing]
I was frozen this morning
when I woke up Were you, Edie?
- I did drop It dropped It dropped quite a bit
- I missed you last night
I was so lonely She only left me
one little kitty to keep me warm
And all these blankets were on the
floors, all this pile of stuff here
Jerry's pretty good at waiting on me
He can find things here that
I wouldn't find for half an hour
- [David] Jerry, the majordomo
- I'm so sick of that kid
- I have great pity for him
- Lois says... Well, you know the trouble
- And I like him, but...
- Lois says... You know the trouble
- [David] What?
- The trouble is, he's madly in love with Edie
I said I thought Edie was madly
in love with him Pardon me
He might as well leave right now,
'cause he's never gonna get it
- So that's it
- Get what? Sex with you?
- What he's after
- He doesn't want any sex with you
- Well, that's all they're after
- An old person like you? Good God!
- So why don't you tell him right now?
- Unheard of Unheard of
- You should tell him right now
so I'm not bothered by him
He's got about six girls
in East Hampton He's so busy
- No, but the point is, he thinks...
- I don't know what he's doing
He's out every single night
with a different girl
- Yeah, but that's, that's the point, you see
- He had a wonderful time
- He's gonna be here for years and years
I see this coming
- I hope
- The guy's gonna be here for years and years
- I doubt that
- It's gonna be one of those things
Like Tom Logan
Aren't you gonna feed Whiskers, Edie?
Come on, go in and feed Whiskers
Now, don't eat it
Give it to Whiskers, please
- You're thin You want to get thin
- She's very mean to me
No I have to be very strict
The priest said she needed a very strict hand
[Laughs]
What the priest told me
[Imitating Irish Accent] "She sure needs
a very strong hand, your daughter"
And I tried to give it to her,
you know that?
After Mr. Beale, you know,
stopped living in East Hampton
I had a terrible
hard time with Edie
She just went wild after
her father wasn't living here
She went wild, absolutely wild
I couldn't do anything
with her at all
Isn't it awful
when a dancer gets fat?
Isn't it awful? God
It's awful, I'm telling you
It's awful! God!
My father believed in running
the children's lives, you know?
He wanted me to get my master's degree,
be a junior partner in his law firm
- Take the ice cream
- He was 165 Broadway
on the ninth floor,
and my knees would start to shake
coming down on the ninth floor
of Mr. Beale's office
My knees were rattling
My mouth was dry
You were scared of your father
And I'd go in, and he'd come forward out
of his office with his watch in his hand
and then he'd look at the clock
on the wall, and he'd say
"You're five minutes late,"
he'd say Oh, my God
- No, he had a very...
- And then he'd sit down and look at me like this
and say, "Take it off
Take that hat off
"Take that lipstick off
Take that nail polish off
- How dare you wear those high heels!"
- Oh, she's just acting
Don't you want some of this?
Butter pecan
Mmm Mmm
He said the only thing
to be was a professional woman
He did say that
Didn't he, Mother?
Well, I wouldn't say
it's the only thing
He didn't want me to get married
I don't think people should get married
I don't believe in it at all
If you can't get a man to propose
to you, you might as well be dead
- Oh, I don't think it's important
- I think it's disgusting
- Aunt Mary had the most wonderful life
- absolutely disgusting
- Lived to be 94 years of age
- to live alone
What are they proving? They have to around
with dogs or other women or something
- Dogs are lovely
- I, I think it's terrible
I'll take a dog any day
[Chuckles]
Why didn't you marry the man
you wanted to, like I did?
I think the saddest thing was my not
marrying into the Obelensky family
'cause I adore them
- Any Obelensky is wonderful That's all I can say
- He's a very sweet man
If he's related to
the Obelenskys, he's okay
- I didn't know he was any relation to them
- Yes
- I never knew it
- Serge's, uh, nephew by his half-sister
Now, there was a boy
I might have married
Why didn't you marry Paul Getty?
I said, "How did you
happen to come here?"
And he said, "Oh, I saw you at a dance,"
he said, "in South Hampton"
- I said, "You did?" He said, "Yes"
- He was just a kid
He was 32 And I said,
"Eugene, what you need is a girl"
And he said, "No, Edith, I'm looking
for a wife I wanna get married"
- He wanted to take Edie to Westchester
- Wasn't that cute?
Tom had just died, and I did not
want another man in my kitchen
- I went downstairs...
- He'd just made a cookbook
- Mother got rid of him in 15 minutes
- Don't want any cookbooks
Mother got rid of him in 15 minutes
because he came from a celebrated family
The Tyszkiewicz family And I suppose mother
didn't want me to have anybody that was decent
- You understand
- I didn't want anybody in the kitchen
It would have been perfectly
all right for me to marry Tom Logan
Why did you want to marry a kid 32?
- I forgot to say that Eugene was a count
- He didn't have a nickel
I would have been Countess...
Countess Edith
I didn't want my child to be taken away
I'd be entirely alone
Do you know what I go through
with this awful stuff?
Listen, I've got to eat lunch
I'm starving
Well, you know me... always hungry
- [Door Closes]
- I'm not gonna gain the weight back
I didn't have any breakfast
- I'll put some lipstick on
- You want to give me something to put on, Edie?
[Giggles]
I'm beginning to laugh
- These are my brother's drawers
- Give me something to put on
And I feel so strongly about mementos
and everything because of Mother
that I was never able to ever clean out
these desk drawers and throw the stuff away
- Would you believe that?
You know, it's childhood stuff
- Oh, Edie, yoo-hoo!
- "Memorabalia" or something
- Edie, yoo-hoo!
- I couldn't throw anything away
- They're looking at this room
- Oh, Edie!
Yeah, just a minute
They discovered something
terrific in here
- Come on I've waited long enough
- Is it from Austria?
- Why, what happened?
- Never mind about me
[Edie] "The moving finger writes
and, having writ, moves on"
I was going to write
another line from Omar Khayyam:
"We come like water
and we go like wind"
Edie, yoo-hoo!
- Well, I got that one up
- Edie, bring me the telephone
That's the man
This is the woman
- I can't tell
- Are you getting me the blue kimono, Edie?
I'm putting up the silver masks
Edie, come here a minute Hurry
I can't get the thumbtack
in the wall
- I think I have the saddest life
- Oh, Edie!
I have to go on with
the redecoration of this room
- Yeah
- Can you get me something to eat?
All right
[Edie]
I made this
Those are roses
of all different years
That's my shell collection
You can't see it, it's so dirty Isn't that tragic?
That's... These...
Then I have two things to go there
And "Around the World"
is supposed to go there
Edie, I can't do it
- Open it I can't do it
- I'm just gonna put that up there
'cause I like red
in this room for some reason
And I was gonna hang
the birdcage right here
and have "Around the World" there
But I haven't gotten to that
Perhaps I'd better begin taking care of
Mother and bossing her and cooking her some food
- What do you boys think?
- [David] Bossing her around?
Yeah
I let her do what she wants
I think maybe I ought to give her
cooked meals at certain hours
What do you think?
I don't have any clock
You know,
I never know what time it is
You think she'd eat them?
I don't know You know her
better than anybody
I give her her head I let her do what
she wants to do I think it's awful
She should eat, you know, chopped meat and
a baked potato at a certain hour for luncheon
Then have a nice little dinner
But that takes timing
No, I'm not ready,
and I have no makeup on!
- [Albert Laughing]
- But things are getting better!
Did you find my sign, "In bathtub"?
Right
I couldn't believe it
Come on in
We're not ready
- [Mrs. Beale] Is that Al down there? Hello, Al
- [Albert] Yeah Hi
- Take your time
- Oh, God! I almost tripped
I almost broke my neck then
God, these stairs are dirty
Oh
[Giggles]
[Indistinct Chattering]
How could Edie leave
these stairs like this?
Don't I look funny
coming down these stairs, hmm?
- [David] No You look great
- Don't I? I feel funny
I feel funny
- Just like a night at the opera
- Is it?
The night at the opera will be when
I get in that chair in the dining room
That would be the night
at the opera
- [Edie] Mother, Lois and Jack are here!
- Hello, jack
- [Lois] Happy birthday!
- [Chatters, Indistinct]
I say, where's the cushion, Edie?
Get the cushion I'll ruin my dress
- Oh, yes She puts it here
- Oh, God, and those chairs
Are they dirty, those chairs
Hello, jack
- Hi, how are you? Happy birthday
- [Mrs. Beale Giggles]
Well, you're very cute
to celebrate with me today
- [Edie] I like you in that costume, Lois
- Oh, why, thank you
[Edith] I see Edie hasn't...
You better not sit on those chairs
- They look very dirty
- They can sit on paper
I thought you were gonna
clean up, Edie
I tried
I swept the, uh, hall
Well, I'm kind of disapp...Jack,
you don't mind sitting by me, do you?
I swept the floor We have wine
I'll bring down the glasses
Bring down the wine, please
- And Edie is due... Lois is due ginger ale
- Okay
But don't let the cats out
How do you like that thing
Lois did for me, jack?
Are your eyes good enough
to see that?
- Oh, sure
- How are your eyes?
[Edie Giggling]
- She's no waitress, I'll tell ya
- [Giggling Continues]
Well, she's got a pretty heavy tray
Leave the tray here, won't you?
Oh, no, she's not gonna
She's gonna do
just as she wants, you know
She's a Schrafft's waitress
They always do just as they want
Here's to Mother
May she live to be at least 80
- [Mrs. Beale] Oh, it's one more year Ha, ha
- She's in her 79th
- She's in her 79th now... 79th year
- [Radio Announcer, Indistinct]
She's gonna tell that to everybody
in East Hampton, you know
- [Jack] Well, that's life
- Everybody's gonna know my age
- Well, happy birthday
- Thank you very much
- [Lois] (music) Happy birthday (music)
- Sing me "Happy Birthday" Sing it
- I sang it
- Do it again
- (music) Happy birthday to you (music)
- (music) Happy birthday (music)
- [Lois] Very good
- (music) Happy birthday (music)
(music) Dear Mother (music)
- [Mrs. Beale Laughing]
- (music) Happy birthday (music)
(music) To you (music)
Why do we have to have
paper cups when I wanted my...
I wanted my green goblets with all the gold
on 'em, and she wouldn't bring 'em down
- [Radio: Commercial]
- So disappointed on my birthday
(music) Sugar-free Diet Pepsi is here (music)
[Mrs. Beale] Oh, what a beautiful...
I knew I wanted to look at that cake!
Did you ever see anything
like that?
- "Happy Birthday" Gorgeous!
- [Phone Ringing]
- Imagine having red... Somebody's calling me, Edie
- That's terrific
- My sister ordered that out of Sag Harbor
- [Edie] Hello? Yeah
- Hey, Mother, can you move your chair a little bit?
- Yeah
This is the first time we've used
the long wire in the dining room
Oh, hello, Polly
Thank you, dear Are you gonna sing it
all the way through?
[Giggles] Listen,
I got your beautiful present
- Uh, Edie, have you brought the present down yet?
- I haven't opened any presents
We're sitting down here
in the so-called old...
- What, dear?
- We haven't opened anything
There's a great big box up there
Tremendous box, but we haven't
opened the presents
Well, you sent me a card
I got that
I don't think she did
send Mother a card
Michele sent the cards
I haven't started the cake,
but I'll read you what it says
It says, uh...
What does it say, Jack?
Edith, happy birthday...
Oh, it says, "Happy birthday, Edith"
- And that's all in red
- [Jack] Yes
And then the flowers
underneath are...
Well, yellow flowers and green
It's a perfectly enormous cake
Oh! [Laughs]
Thank you, dear Hang up
- Did you say good-bye? Did you say good-bye?
- That's the girl you hated
[Jack] Are they having eye trouble?
They freeze your eyes
- Both of them have been operated
- [Edie] They had to have operations
- They both had two operations
- And then they weren't good, either
One lost her eye One girl
Yeah, the eyes disappeared...
dried up and disappeared
She has double vision She has to wear
dark glasses over the cataract glasses
She's absolutely cured, Edie!
- She's cured now
- Did she say she was cured?
She said, "I feel wonderful"
The really nice thing to have
is to get deaf and get blind
and then have some cancer
come in your face and your lips
- Cancer?
- Cancer of the tongue or something like that
- Yeah, cancer is worse
- Yeah
[Lois] You want to open
my little presents and then...
Yeah, I am Edith, you ever
see anything as cute as this?
[Lois] A little pad there
you can write your requests on
I need that more than anything
to write things down
I have my things written all over boxes,
all over the bed, everywhere
I got Epstein's address
I've got...
Who have I got there, Edie?
All the electricians
in East Hampton
- All of'em Isn't that a nice book, Edie? Look
- Terrific
I can't be late now
and I can't forget
And I can't hate anybody
and I can't do anything
The little book is gonna keep me
straight Straight as a die
Isn't that nice? I haven't had
a little thing like that in ages
- I had a wonderful time
- Your hands are cold It did you no good, my food
- Oh, no
- Your hands are cold, lady
[Jack]
Well, I must be on my course, I guess
- [Edie] Good-bye
- Well, so long, fellas
Thank you for your card and your
ice cream I love you very much
Oh, especially the ice cream
[Door Closes]
[Mrs. Beale]
Bring me my yellow cushion, Edie
- Yeah
- The cats are in here Did you know it?
The cats are in with me
Will you turn the heat off?
It is terribly hot in here
[Edie] Your room is terribly dirty
It's got to be cleaned
- Not tonight, Geraldine
- There's a horrible smell I can hardly sit here
I love that smell I thrive on it
Makes me feel good
We have to hang the portrait
and clean the room
No! Pull the chair out!
He wants to look at it!
I'm not ashamed of anything Where
my body is is a very precious place
It's "concentrated" ground
[Giggles]
[David]
Consecrated
[Mrs. Beale] What are they doing?
Take a picture of Edie
I'm trying to think of... Oh, I know
what I can have Oh, for goodness sakes, he is
My God They see me as... You know,
you don't see me as I see myself
But you're very good,
what you do see me as
I mean, it's okay
- Are you pleased with those?
- You know, I see myself as a little girl
- And all that
- What I see is a very immature child
She sees me as a baby, and I see myself
as some kind of a little girl
They see me as a woman
I don't see that
But when I get out of here, I do
- You gonna babble on?
- When I go to New York City,
But in here I'm just, you know,
Mother's little daughter
I doubt that very much You wanna
play Al the record I bought you?
Virginia Military Institute!
Oh, my God I can't get over this
I really can't
And you can't dance at all
- Why can't I?
- I never saw you do anything military Never
Are you absolutely crazy?
There isn't anything I can't do
(music) [March]
[Chuckles]
[Music Ends]
[Laughing]
Darling David, where have you
been all my life?
Where have you been? Where have you been?
Where have you been?
Where have you been?
(music) [Humming Marching Tune]
Only thing I needed was this man!
- [Mrs. Beale, Indistinct]
- What?
- What did you say?
- All I needed was this man David!
(music) [Humming Continues]
- (music) David (music)
- [Whistling]
I wish I'd had David and Al
with me before this
[Mrs. Beale]
Yeah, well, you had your mother
Yeah
But they're more interested
Good Lord
I can't believe it
It's 145
Here, kitty, I got
a big, nice piece of white...
Here, kitty
Here, kitty
You like that? That's nice
No bones on that one
(music) [Humming]
Oh, that's a pretty song
"Don't Throw Bouquets At Me"
You know, that was... I was trying
to think of the words to that
- (music) Bouquet (music)
- (music) No, don't throw (music)
- (music) Bouquets at me (music)
- (music) Bouquets at me (music)
- (music) Don't (music)
- Don't what?
- Hurry up Don't what?
- (music) [Humming Continues]
- (music) Your lips to mine (music)
- Oh, no That's not it
- No, you're way off the beat there No
- (music) Don't (music)
- (music) [Humming]
- Bad Go to the bottom of the class
No, that isn't it
- (music) You're mine (music)
- No, that isn't it either
(music) People will say (music)
- (music) We're in love (music)
- Her voice is improving She didn't say "lahve"
You're not Czechoslovakian
"Love"
- (music) [Humming Continues]
- You don't say "lahve"
You say that... You see,
she knows that she sings so badly
that she has to wiggle
about 20 times to every note
you see, to distract the people,
you know, but she really can't sing it right
- I can sing like mad
- You sing beautifully You're singing incorrectly
Very ugly Always
must do everything correctly
- Now start at the top now
- (music) [Edie Humming]
- (music) Don't (music)
- (music) Don't (music)
(music) Throw (music)
(music) Bouquets at me (music)
- Don't make funny faces
- (music) My... (music)
- (music) [Hums]
- Now that's what I want The next line
- (music) Are much too much (music)
- Oh, no Way off there
No, that's not it
- (music) Ha har hee (music)
- No "Ha har hee" doesn't make up
for a lot of words
you can't remember
- (music) People will say we're in love (music)
- No
Oh, don't do that
Omie thing again..."lahve"
Where in hell did you come from?
- I'm going to bed, kids
I love you very much, both of you
- But, you know, she took my pillow, and I'm in agony
- (music) Mona Lisa, Mona Lisa (music)
Why did you lose my pillow, Edie?
(music) I'm warm inside so I can sleep (music)
(music) And then I (music)
(music) Want to weep (music)
(music) I'm a-getting tired (music)
(music) So I can da-da-da (music)
- [Edie Babbling, Laughing]
- I didn't know you were going
- (music) Down around the lamppost (music)
- [David, Albert Laughing]
- (music) In the something (music)
- (music) [David, Albert Humming]
(music) [Humming]
If I only knew the words
Marlene Dietrich
(music) Down around the lamppost (music)
(music) It's Lily Marlene (music)
That's an old war song, Mother
[Edie] I tried to get you
I called and called and called
- [Albert] Oh, yeah? How's everything?
- I guess you went out
Then I called again
You were busy
- Guess what's happened
- What?
What I had felt was in the cards
I'm telling you, I'm not gonna spend
another ten years with this
You know, I spent ten years
with the last
- You mean Tom Logan
- What is it now?
The Marble Faun is moving in
- Who is?
- The Marble Faun
- Oh
- He just gave us a washing machine
That cements the deal
I gotta get out of here I'm not
gonna spend the rest of my life
washing clothes in that goddamn...
- I don't blame you
- It's a very nice washing machine
It came from this house
they're gonna sell
You know, he had a job
as a gardener's assistant at this house
And they're gonna sell the house,
so they gave him the washing machine
[Whispering]
But he's moving in
Oh
I can't watch him, I'm telling you
Of course, he's still gonna have
the gardening job, you know
But I think he gets home at 4:00
So, Mother says... Do you wanna
come in and speak to Mother?
- She'd like to speak to you
- Okay
Come on in I'm pulverized
by this latest thing
Well, you do!
You have a beautiful face, like a girl
Like, you look like my mother
The absolute image
of my mother, jerry
Jerry, you're not going
to drink anything, are you?
- No
- Well, what are you gonna have?
- I'll wait for the chicken
- You're waiting for the chicken?
You mean to say you're not
gonna have soup or a drink
or a highball
or something like that?
Don't you think
we better have some rum?
Oh, no She didn't put any papers
on that thing today?
I asked her to Jerry,
I'm badly treated all along
[Edie Whispering] I think my days
at Grey Gardens are limited
I think my days
at Grey Gardens are limited
- (music) When do we start (music)
- Oh, God, please!
- (music) The scene is set (music)
- Oh, Edie, take that scarf off
- (music) That I'm in love with you (music)
- Grab that scarf for me
Oh, Edie, quit it, for God's sake
[Edie Giggling]
There's an extra knife
I'll put it in the middle
- I forgot the forks
- Do you mind getting my slippers,
Will you, please?
You know where you put them
You have to get very tough
with Edie
She won't do anything
till you get very, very tough
A strong hand, says the priest
Said, "She needs a strong hand"
I said, "I know it I brought Edie up
without her father It was very difficult"
Then she went to New York
and did what she wanted to do
You know, I wanted to get Mr. Beale
back and have him come back
She said she'd leave the house forever
if I had her father come back
(music) Well, the moon is high (music)
- (music) The breezes sing of it (music)
- Would you bring my little radio?
Edie, will you bring my little radio?
It's on my bed
Will you bring
my little radio, please?
I've got to have
some professional music
- (music) [Edie Continues Singing]
- She found the slippers
Quite remarkable
You got the radio, Edie?
- You got my radio? It's on the bed
- (music) The night is young (music)
- (music) [Humming]
- How did you happen to find it so quickly?
Put this up there
Will you, Edie, please?
Put that up there
This thing
All right, if you're gonna
stay there and eat, I'll eat here
(music) When did we start (music)
Now I'm gonna put that terrible
racket of Edie to bed
(music) And I'm in love (music)
(music) With you (music)
[Radio: Static, Indistinct Announcement]
- She's always hated Marlene Dietrich
- I can't stand that music
- She has She absolutely loathes Marlene Dietrich
- She makes me very ill
- (music) The scene is set (music)
- Oh, Edie, I can't take it, Edie
I'll go right into the room, and
I won't have any hot food or anything
Don't do it, Edie!
I'll get so mad!
- Listen, will you stop it? I'm going in the next room
- I'm singing it in American
- I'll never see you again, as long as I live
- I'm singing it in American
I don't care You're not gonna
sing that song Stop it, will ya?
- Why not?
- 'Cause I don't wanna hear it
- Well, I stood for yours all these years
- Come on
Well, my voice
is beautiful and trained
- (music) [Edie Humming]
- It was beautifully trained, my voice
- I never tried to attract men with it
- (music) The scene is set (music)
- Edie, stop it I'm going to get up now Good-bye
- (music) I'm in love with you (music)
I'm going right in the other room
with the cats where I'll be happy
- (music) [Humming Continues]
- I'm not gonna take it
I hope it does
Something fell off just then
Get out of here
Don't make me mad Get out!
- You're making me very angry!
Go out! Go away! Stop!
- Mother, look at your chest
- Well, stop it! Stop that silly nonsense!
- Quit it! Go away!
- I can't have any fun in this house
- You had enough fun all your life
- I've never had five minutes' fun Not a minute
- I never had a minute's fun
- Go away! You don't look at it!
Well, you made a rotten breakfast
Horrible You spoiled the whole thing
I can't go over to my seat now
- There's no back to this bathing suit
- [David] We won't look
Mother, do you realize that your
whole chest was showing in that movie?
[Mrs. Beale] Yes Everything is
perfectly disgusting on account of you
You did it You sure do bring out
the worst in your mother
[Door Closes]
(music) [Radio]
I think Mother's very mean to me
I'm glad I stopped you Thank God
I'll have a little peace here
Yeah, but I do several versions
of that
She's got a beautiful voice,
but you never heard it
You never heard her voice
She can really sing decently
Sings very well
Better voice than I have
But not that song
Now sing "Only a Rose,"now, Edie
You ought to be able to do that
Go on Sing it
(music) Only a rose (music)
(music) Only a rose (music)
(music) Another day (music)
- (music) Only a rose (music)
- (music) [Humming]
(music) I give you only a rose (music)
- Dying away
- (music) Dying away (music)
(music) Only a rose (music)
To keep in harmony
- [Laughs] (music) To keep in harmony (music)
- (music) To keep in harmony (music)
- (music) Only... (music) [Laughs]
- [Mrs. Beale Laughs]
I don't think there's any point in my meeting
anybody that doesn't like music, do you?
'Cause I can't stand them
Finally, I can't stand them
There's something lacking,
and it's music, isn't it?
I mean, in a man
Well, it is nice to have a man
who can play the piano for you
- No, that isn't all She doesn't get it
- You can practice
Unless a man understands music, there's
no point in my even meeting him
'cause I never could figure out
what was wrong
You know, with stockbrokers
and tennis players and...
I tell you who was a songwriter
and a dancer and a playwright and everything
Eugene Tyszkiewicz
But Mother got rid of him in 15 minutes
- He didn't speak English well
He'd only been here seven years
- He might've poisoned you
- He was Serge Obelensky's nephew
- You wanna marry a stranger?
- I mean, he was a very, very decent guy
- I looked up his horoscope
He was born November the 14th
- I have to go in now
- He was a very wonderful boy
- Who was this?
- Eugene Tyszkiewicz He was a twin
- I couldn't stand having another cook in this house
- That isn't the point
And he actually proposed,
under the window
- He had no home He was living in a third-class hotel
- Under the window
- He didn't have a thing
- He said, "Edith, if you want
- Not one single nickel
- And I think that was decent, don't you?
- I don't see why
- He probably wouldn't have, but just the same
Not one person had entered
Grey Gardens for many years
before Eugene Tyszkiewicz
came around
So I credit him
with all the nerve in the world
Why, no one would even speak to us
People who I had walked
to the Maidstone Club with for years
- Don't believe a word of it
- Admiring all the other people
- Don't believe a word of it, kid Not a word
- All the other people...
- [Rambling]
- If your father could hear you, he'd turn in his grave
He'd say, "My God, Edie!"
Well, anyway, I think
you were very cruel, Mother
- Well, I don't think it's nice
- He came from one of the best families in Poland
And he was related to the Obelenskys
And I think it's terrible that she wouldn't
give me a chance with Eugene Tyszkiewicz
- That was absolutely cruel
to drive the only beau away!
- Do you want to marry a man 32?
- I don't care! That was the only one
besides these horrible people
that came around here!
- Have you got your thing lighted for that?
- [David] Yeah, we're all lit
- He was only 32 and from a very good family!
- 32, and she's 52!
And she got rid of him
in 15 minutes flat!
- No, he didn't He said...
- I'm bored with all these awful people like Jerry!
- And all those people!
- That wasn't the truth No
Tell him the truth
That was not the truth
Uh, no, and that was not the truth
He said, "How could such a warm,
lovely person over the telephone
turn into anything so cold?"
That's what he said
right down on the porch
So I said, I said, "You'd better go home"
Never said good-bye or anything
"How could such a warm, lovely woman
over the telephone turn into something so cold?"
I thought that was just
a little too much
Uh, I'll tell you the whole thing
You might as well face it
It's my mother's house,
and she owns it
and she wanted the people
she wanted in it
and she didn't want
the people that I wanted in it
But God knows whom I wanted in it
I mean, besides Eugene, and Mother
wouldn't allow Eugene to stay even 15 minutes
But I had to spend ten years
with Tom Logan
And now we have Jerry
who is Mother's friend
So, you just can't do
anything about it
So I can see now
why girls get married
You know, they're forced into it
It's all a question
of who you want to stay with
Of course, I'm mad about animals, but
raccoons and cats become a little bit boring
I mean, for too long a time
[Laughs]
I don't know
I don't know
I better check on Mother and the cats
She's a lot of fun
I hope she doesn't die
I hate to spend the winter here,
though Oh, God
Another winter
[Whispering] Very depressing,
you know, when winter sets in here
You know, 'cause I don't like the
country, and I don't want to be here
Any little rat...
Any little rat's nest in New York
any little mouse hole,
any little rat hole
even on Tenth Avenue,
I would like better
(music) [Phonograph: Big Band]
(music) Beneath the moon and the sun (music)
(music) Too near or far (music)
(music) No matter, darling where you are (music)
(music) I think of you (music)
(music) Night and day (music)
(music) [Continues, Indistinct]
(music) Silence of my lonely room (music)
(music) I think of you (music)
(music) The magic (music)
(music) Of dreams come true (music)
(music) [Humming]