GOOD OL’ FREDA (Ryan White). 86 minutes. Opens Friday (September 20). For venues and times, see Movies, page 84. Rating: NNNN
If they hadn’t made a movie about her, you would not believe Freda Kelly could exist.
Kelly ran the Beatles’ official fan club through the band’s 11-year history while working as a secretary first for manager Brian Epstein and then for the Beatles themselves.
In the early days, she made sure the lads signed every photograph – the boys themselves resisted using stamped signatures – and so empathized with the screaming hordes that she went the distance for them. She once gave Ringo a pillowcase to sleep on so she could send it to a fan.
Steadfastly loyal, Kelly never flaunted her close connection to the Fab Four, even post breakup, not telling her children about it until this doc was being made.
No surprise, she has memorabilia to die for.
Kelly’s amazing enough, but what makes the doc essential is its intimate portrait of the band, from their days playing the Cavern – when Kelly would skip out of her typing pool at lunch to see them – to the point when they came apart. It’s all seen from the unique perspective of a woman who never idolized them and basically grew up with them.
From our North American viewpoint, the Beatles were major stars expertly marketed by the savvy Epstein in swinging England.
Good Ol’ Freda makes the era look much more innocent.
