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

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.