48. GOOD 'OL FREDA

freda kelly was a young secretary in liverpool when a couple of coworkers took her to lunch at the cavern, where a young local group was performing.  she took an immediate liking to the music of the beatles and spent nearly 200 lunch hours or weekends watching their shows and getting to know them.  when brian epstein signed on with them as manager, he chose freda to be secretary.  she started the beatle fan club as well, and worked in the position for 11 years until the group went their separate ways.  freda is an amazing woman.  all that she knew and saw and heard and experienced--she remained totally loyal to the privacy of the members of the group.  indeed, after she resigned from her job when pregnant with her second child, she closed the book.  people close to her in later years, including her own children, rarely heard any stories of her time with the beatles.  after the death of her son and the birth of her grandson, she realized she actually wanted a piece of her legacy recorded, and so became this documentary.  as freda herself says, "i'm not famous.  i'm not rich.  i still work as a secretary.  i've come full circle.  when this film is done, i'm done telling my story".  the film is full of beatles' music, photos and footage and concludes with a personal message from ringo.  freda began as a fan, worked as a fan, and is still a fan.  she notes that they had so much fun in the beginning.  she always believed they would be a success, though she admits she never imagined the worldwide fame they enjoyed.  "i thought it would be success if they got a song on the charts."  she acknowledges she was naive when she started with them, but grew quickly with them.  how fortunate were the beatles to have freda in the inner circle??  it makes me wonder why any one, or all, of them hasn't done more for her in the past 50 years.  at least, the four were on board to allow their songs to be used in the film, the money for which was raised through kickstarter.  good 'ol freda is truly good.