From the filmmakers behind Salesman (1969) and The Rolling Stones' Gimme Shelter (1970) the Maysles Brothers present another of their 'non-fiction features' this time an impossibly intimate absorbing insight into the lives of two eccentric and reclusive women: Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edie. As aunt and cousin Jackie Onassis 'Big Edie' and 'Little Edie' lived together as high-society dropouts in a squalid mansion in wealthy East Hampton. What was once a grand summer residence has been reduced to a fortress of fleas feral cats and filth the gardens long gone to seed and Big Edie and Little Edie confined to just a few of the twenty-eight rooms.Together they invent a world with their house as a stage where life's disappointments and pleasures are recycled into riveting performances performances which have gone on to earn Little Edie's reputation as a fashion genius and philosopher queen.This true cult classic - which has inspired a current Broadway show a centre page fashion spread in both Vogue and Harper's Bazaar and a Hollywood remake - prompted the intervention of Jackie O to save the couple from a hazardous health eviction order and any further embarrassment for the family.
