by allan tong for FILMbutton

Freda Kelly had a job in the sixties that millions of girls around the world would have killed for: she ran The Beatles’ fan club.

A fan, but not a fanatic, Kelly was just 17 when she landed the coveted job right before The Fab Four launched into super stardom in late-1963. Chock full of Kelly’s memories of Beatlemania from the inner circle, particular the early Liverpool days, Good Ol’ Freda will thrill Beatles and rock fans, but Kelly’s humility and loyalty will also touch the hearts of movie fans.

Kelly is one of the last from that inner circle to tell her story. When she retired the Fan Club in 1972, she never asked The Beatles for a dime, and today remains a common secretary hiding her famous past. Amazingly, she didn’t tell her own children about her Fab days including her son who passed away. That regret, and the birth of her grandchildren, has broken her silence.

Allan is a Toronto filmmaker, co-directing Leone Stars, a documentary about child victims of the Sierra Leonean civil war.