Dans l'antichambre des Beatles : Quatre Garçons et une secrétaire dans le vent

Wow, this is a gift to Beatles fans everywhere! I just had the pleasure of seeing the NYC premiere of this film at the Museum of the Moving Image, with Freda there in person along with the film's director, Ryan White. Freda intimately witnessed the Beatles saga from the beginning to the end, as the Beatles' secretary for her day job, and as head of their fan club during the rest of the day. Of course the beginning is the best part – in the Cavern Club with Pete Best, before Brian Epstein even came onto the scene. The Cavern Club photos are amazing! Freda's earnest devotion to the Beatles and their fans is truly inspiring. If a girl sent the Beatles Fan Club a pillowcase and said "Please have Ringo sleep on this and send it back to me," Freda would take the pillowcase to Ringo's mom and tell her to please make sure her son slept on it. If a fan asked for a lock of hair, Freda made sure it was truly Beatles hair. This film will make you relive the wonder of the explosion of Beatlemania through Freda's eyes. It also provides a wonderful glimpse into Brian Epstein's role in the Beatles' success ("Eppie" to Freda and the Beatles). I loved how Freda was totally unaware of Brian's homosexuality, until the day John told her that if she was ever stranded with Brian on a desert island, she would have nothing to worry about.

Thank you Ringo, Paul and Apple for assisting with this film. Thank you Freda.

There probably isn't much to know about the Beatles that hasn't already been revealed in the forty-odd years since they disbanded, and if there were, their former secretary Freda Kelly probably wouldn't tell you. There is some nice information on the Beatles' early career, most notably on their days at the Cavern Club, but this is not so much a documentary about the Beatles as a documentary about what it's like to run a fan club for a cultural phenomenon.

What makes the movie so enjoyable is Freda herself. The distinctly unglamorous woman is wonderfully likable, and it is charming to hear her talk about the pains she took to make sure fans got what they wanted (she continually emphasizes that she was a fan herself). She also tells a little of the Beatles' relatives and varying incidents such as one in which George drunkenly fires her.

But the heart of the movie is Freda, whose loyalty and caring make her surprisingly compelling.

There are a lot of sources for information on the Beatles; this movie is less an insider's view of them than a look at the experience of being an insider. And that turns out to be very interesting.

We've probably all seen numerous films and documentaries on the 1960's and the Beatles. However, I thought this documentary, directed by Ryan White, offered a unique behind the scenes look focusing on Freda Kelly, the Beatles long time secretary and Fan Club President.

At just 17 years of age, Freda was plucked out of an office typing pool by Brian Epstein (the Beatles manager), to become his and the band's secretary. Freda was already known to them, being a loyal fan and attending most of the Beatles performances in The Cavern, the local Liverpool club.

Even at that young age, Freda was demonstrating her remarkable personal characteristics of attention to detail, loyalty, and integrity, while strictly maintaining the band member's privacy. Since she was a fan herself, Freda would go to great lengths to try and satisfy the requests of Beatles' fans around the world. Of course, those were the days before social media, cellphones etc., so most requests and replies were done by mail.

During Freda's 11 year tenure as the Beatles' secretary, she really became a member of the family and was a coveted member of their inner circle, till the group members decided to finally go their own way.

The film is filled with wonderful film clips and photos, especially of the very early Beatles days, which I found rather fascinating, being a Beatles fan myself.

Overall, the documentary is very well presented with the unassuming Freda leading us along the way. I thought the movie gave me a real unique and intimate glimpse into the personalities and world of the Beatles, and those around them.

I urge all Beatles' lovers who enjoyed Freda Kelly's story to try and see "Arena: produced by George Martin";it completes this one which features a very interesting portrayal of Brian Epstein Freda Kelly referred to as "Eppie".

It's a wonderful magical mystery tour through the past,as Freda opens her archives in her attic (she gave away most of her items to fans in the first half of the seventies when the fan club closed down .considering the large amount of letters (which grew exponentially over the years ) and other stuff she could have sold,she could be a millionaire today ,as she says; just take a look at the prices on ebay.

Hired at 17 by Epstein,Freda was her secretary,and we get a fly-on- the-wall account of the Beatle mania years; Freda always stayed in the shadow,it was her friend who demanded her wage should be raised .But her anecdotes are a treat to hear:Ringo's nine letters ,Lennon 's metaphor of the desert island where Freda would be safe with "Eppie",the devoted Harrison family always here to give a helping hand,the Moody Blues episode where she was almost "fired" .

When she left the greatest musical phenomenon of the sixties,Freda had to continue to earn her living ;she never complained ,although she got a raw deal :her son Timothy prematurely died and she deeply moves us when she says that she did not tell him much about her past (which almost every English girl envy);the birth of a grandson makes her change her mind and spawn this absorbing documentary.

She never wrote a book ,but this movie will replace it for Beatles' fans .Although she was bruised by her son's death ,she does mention all these people ,part of the legend ,who died well before their time: Epstein,Lennon and Harrison,Moe Cox and Linda McCartney, Derek Taylor....

Let her take you down and you 're going to memory lane,where everything is real.

As a lifelong Beatles fan, it was both interesting and enjoyable to learn the story of the Beatles secretary and fan club organiser Freda Kelly, who amazingly, we learn got the job at age only 17.

A Liverpudlian like the group members, she started off as just a fan, regularly attending the group's Cavern gigs, thus falling into the orbit of not only the group, but their manager Brian Epstein who offered her the job a million Beatles fan would have craved. This simple, uncomplicated documentary tells her insider story. Don't expect any major revelations, now, as then Freda is the soul of discretion, even when hinting that she went out with one of the boys, but there are plenty of nice insights into the gathering maelstrom of their massive success and her special relationship not only with John Paul George and Ringo but also their families.

Related in the form of interconnected interviews with her, her daughter and other Liverpool contemporaries, interspersed with archive footage and a contemporary soundtrack mixing Beatles tracks with original versions of some of the band's early cover versions, she comes across as honest, faithful, discreet, hard-working and loyal. She seems to have benefited not a whit financially from the experience, although I bet her attic full of mementos is worth a few bob.

Of course it would have been nice if both of the surviving Beatles, Paul or Ringo, had actively contributed to the story, but Starr does at least pay her a glowing tribute over the end credits.

After the fan club disbanded in 1972, with Paul pointedly not wanting to be referred to as a Beatle anymore, she quietly resigned her position in a meeting attended by Ringo and George. Of the stories she tells, George seems to be the friendliest.

A pleasant low-key documentary then, sure to be of interest to Beatles fans around the world.