Good Ol' Freda

Good Ol' Freda Photos

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Cast & Crew

Freda Kelly

Self

Ringo Starr

Self

Angie McCartney

Self

Billy Kinsley

Self

Tony Barrow

Self

Billy Hatton

Self

Rachel Norris

Self

Ryan White

Director

Ryan White

Producer

Kathy McCabe

Producer

Jessica Lawson

Producer

Jeffrey Blitz

Executive Producer

Austin Hargrave

Cinematographer

Helen Kearns

Film Editing

Paul Koch

Original Music

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Critic Reviews for Good Ol' Freda

Audience Reviews for Good Ol' Freda

• Dec 17, 2019

  This one is a must for Beatle fans not inundated too much by the number of retrospectives given to those halcyon days when anything seemed possible, particularly shaking off the dust of "the Greatest Generation". Freda, the Beatles secretary, had little to do with the music, and literally simply answered their fan mail, but was there from the start, and so what's delivered is a intimate and touching perspective of a true lifelong fan. Very nice.
  

  kevin w Super Reviewer
• Mar 15, 2014

  Freda Kelly was the Beatles' secretary. A shy, humble girl who's admirably loyal to the band's privacy. Hence, this documentary is deadly uneventful. Even at just 86 minutes, the film seems too long, and Kelly's endless shrugs, giggles and blushes soon turn tedious. The stress on soundbites from forgotten Merseybeat musicians over thoughts from, say, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Martin is another glaring problem. The score cuts corners by featuring just a handful of Beatles songs and filling the void with earlier songs that the group covered.
  

  eric b Super Reviewer
• Sep 23, 2013

  If you asked me a week ago who Freda Kelly was, I would've had no idea, and probably wouldn't care. This was stop #1 at CIFF for me, and honestly, who wouldn't want to see a movie pertaining to The Beatles ? Or so I thought it was about The Beatles. Really, the film is about their career long secretary, Mrs. Freda Kelly. The film documents her "past glories" with the band themselves, wherein she elaborates what it was she did for them, and facts about The Beatles. But rather than treating them as one the most successful and influential band in music history, she describes them as individuals: normal human beings. This was my major interest in the film. The film really gives you insight not only into Freda Kelly, who is amazing herself, but it gives a kind of inside access into the REAL Beatles, rather than the ones you saw, or heard. As for Freda herself, throughout the film, her emotions seem genuine. The stories she tells resembles the truth. It's not a perfect film, or anything along the lines of "Being Elmo," or "Exit Through The Gift Shop," but "Good Ol' Freda" is a heartwarming story of just an ordinary woman with a very extraordinary story to tell,.
  

  Super Reviewer
• Sep 22, 2013

  Many have held the title "The Fifth Beatle" over the last 50 years from disk jockey Murray the K, musician Billy Preston and producer George Martin but after watching this look back at the early Beatles that honor should be bestowed on Freda Kelly. She served as the head of the band's Fan Club for eleven years and proved to more loyal than the four lads themselves. A self admitted private person, Freda seemed an unlikely choice for a movie of this sort but was very unassuming in her affections and protections for the Beatles. An innocent (only 17 at the time) in what was a very innocent time, good ol' Freda could never exist in 2013 and that is a shame. (9-22-13).
  

  john c Super Reviewer