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23 " Everything was perfect in those days," says artist and photographer Peter Beard at the start of the trailer for That Summer. Releasing this month, the documentary takes place in 1972 Montauk and is a fascinating prequel to Grey Gardens, with footage shot by Beard three years before Albert and David Maysles famously released the film that documented the extraordinary lives of Big Edie and Little Edie Bouvier Beale. Thought lost for 45 years, the footage was recently recovered, then edited and assembled by Swedish director Göran Hugo Olsson, with additional footage shot by Andy Warhol over that idyllic summer. That Summer chronicles the friendship of Beard, Andy Warhol, Lee Radziwill, Truman Capote, Mick Jagger, and Paul Morrissey as they visit the Beales' crumbling East Hampton mansion and frolic on the beaches near Warhol's seaside compound. It begins when Radziwill tries to convince Big Edie and Little Edie to let them inside their derelict dwelling overrun by cats and piled with garbage, so that the group could film a nostalgic piece about Radziwill's return to the Hamptons after 30 years, narrated by her Aunt Edith. "It took me weeks to get them to open the door at Grey Gardens," Radziwill says. Beard suggests inviting the Maysles brothers to also film the Beales and the mansion, because they had 16mm cameras. And, as Radziwill says, "that's how it all started." Beard films alongside them, documenting their summer- long project — joking, squabbling, bons mots flying. Little Edie points to a cat. "That's Teddsy Kennedy. We named him after Teddy Kennedy; we thought he was the spitting image of Teddy, you know, before he got fat." Beard's footage was never produced, but three years later, Albert and David Maysles' Grey Gardens was released and paints an intimate portrait of the Beales as the eccentric, reclusive mother and daughter they were — a pair from the upper echelons of society, aunt and cousin of sisters Jackie Kennedy and Lee Radziwill, who opted for a strange life of solitude that tumbled into a ramshackle, decaying existence. Grey Gardens became a cult classic with the fashion set, entranced with Little Edie's turbaned ensembles of bedspread skirts over pants, flags, and feathers. "You know, they lived in a dream world," says Beard, "and it was okay." The national release date for That Summer is Friday, May 18. Linden Wilson H e is, quite literally, larger than life. A towering 6 feet, 6 inches tall, André Leon Talley is a commanding presence. The tastemaker, editor, and fashion curator is typically ensconced in an opulent caftan and speaks in an accent with tones of American aristocracy (origin unknown) and the Deep South — oozing melodrama and mystique. Talley is a style enigma who will go down in history for his fashion prowess, yes, but it was his barrier-breaking entrée into the fashion world in the 1970s that makes a more poignant mark. He was one of the first black men to make an impact on an industry that had long been dominated by white men and women, leading the way for fashion's embrace of diversity. "He was so many things he wasn't supposed to be," says Whoopi Goldberg, who makes an appearance in the documentary. She describes a front-row fashion-show lineup with Talley in the center: Person. Person. Person. Rockette. Person. Person. Person. This month, Magnolia Pictures and director Kate Novack give Talley his well-deserved moment with an intimate documentary about his rise to fame, from growing up in the Jim Crow South to carving out his own niche among the world's glitterati. The Gospel According to André is not just a peek behind the velvet curtain of his glamorous life inside Women's Wear Daily, W, and Vogue, it's also an emotional look at the moments that define a man, from his relationship with his grandmother to the resounding influence of the Black Church he attended as a child. "People said many bad things about me, says Talley. "They called me Queen Kong. I was like an ape. I was a gay, ape, Queen Kong." Of course, for their beloved friend, all the heavy-hitters make their presence felt, from Anna Wintour to Tom Ford, Mark Jacobs, Karl Lagerfeld and Kanye West. Says Talley, "I opened my heart, and I opened my life, and I opened my home, and I opened my history and opened all my friends. The people that are in the doc are the people that are of great value to my life." Christina Geyer A LONG-LOST GREY GARDENS PREQUEL PREACHING TO THE FASHION CHOIR ReSURFACeS The Gospel According to Andre Lee Radziwill, Mick and Bianca Jagger Peter Beard, Montauk, 1972 Lee Radziwill, Andy Warhol, Montauk, 1972 Little Edie Bouvier Beale