Plot
A documentary in which Freda Kelly looks back at her career as lifelong secretary for The Beatles.
Release Year: 2013
Rating: 7.7/10 (88 voted)
Director:Ryan White
Storyline
'Good Ol' Freda' tells the story of Freda Kelly, a shy Liverpudlian teenager asked to work for a young local band hoping to make it big: the Beatles. As the Beatles' fame multiplies, Freda bears witness to music and cultural history but never exploits her insider access. Their loyal secretary from beginning to end, Freda finally tells her tales for the first time in 50 years.
Trivia:
The first independent film to have successfully licensed original Beatles recordings. See more »
User Review
Author:
Rating: 9/10
The moment that I saw Good Ol' Freda listed in the Hot Docs program,
without reading the description, I knew exactly who this doc was about.
That's good ol' Freda Kelly, once called the luckiest girl in the world
by newspapers and teen rags, because she was the secretary to a little
band called The Beatles. The title comes from the 1963 Christmas
message recorded by the Fab Four for their fan club, which Kelly also
ran, in which they specifically mention "good ol' Freda." Early in the
film, Kelly looks at the camera and says, "Who wants to hear the
secretary's story?"
The answer of course is – We do, we do! All these years later, the
world is still hungry for any piece of the story of The Beatles that
has been left untold. And Freda Kelly is our last best hope. She has
remained mum for years – she's never sold her story; rarely gives
interviews; didn't cash in the treasure trove of Beatles memorabilia in
her attic, instead passing it directly to fans or donating to charity.
Good Ol' Freda is less a tale of The Beatles and more a tale of one
woman's – a girl's actually, being only 17 when she was hired – fierce
loyalty and protector of a trust given her by the four most famous men
in the world.
Freda Kelly was a nice Liverpudlian girl who found herself in
extraordinary circumstances. She coped with those circumstances with
more grace than one can imagine and has continued to do so for years.
Kelly took her job very seriously, but… she was a fan first and
foremost, and she still counts herself as one today. Turns out, that
"luckiest girl in the world" appellation was exactly how she felt – and
still does. Kelly notes that she agreed to do this doc, with some
reservation, because she wants her grandson to know that she did some
fun and cool stuff in the '60s. Good Ol' Freda will definitely make
that possible.
After the Sunday afternoon screening at TIFF Bell Lightbox, director
Ryan White and producer Kathy McCabe came out on stage. The crowd
applauded. The Freda Kelly came up. The audience – a packed house –
leapt to its feet for a lusty round of ovation. That's the kind of
affection Freda Kelly inspires and her story as told in Good Ol' Freda
inspires. This doc is a must see, now at Hot Docs or anywhere else you
can catch it.
0