Producer: 'Good Ol' Freda' Beatles film story had never been told

Kathy McCabe, producer of the movie “Good Ol' Freda” which will premiere next month at South By Southwest, said in a new interview that became available online Tuesday that she wanted to tell Freda Kelly's story because it had never been told.

“I was intrigued by the fact that Freda never talked publicly. Even people she worked with didn't know what she had done in her quote, unquote previous life before working with them. And she's so intensely private that's the way she prefers to live her life because she's intensely loyal to the Beatles,” she told hosts Ken Michaels and yours truly on the latest “Things We Said Today” podcast that went online early Tuesday morning.

“Over the years, I had encouraged her to come to where I live in Baltimore and maybe do some private talks and see how things went. So finally she agreed to do that, and I had a private talk in my house for about 40 people. It was supposed to be an hourlong event and it ended up being 3 1/2 hours long because she kept talking and talking and the people were just amazed at her stories.”

More private talks followed, and she was then invited to go to the Fest for Beatles Fans in New Jersey. “She was terrified, but she agreed to do it. And the reception she got at that fest was unbelievable. There were 7,000 people standing up cheering for her.”

McCabe says the fest led to discussions about a possible book, then a film. When director Ryan White came available, the plans for "Good Ol' Freda" took off.

You can hear the rest of this interview by downloading the show at the show's website at Podbean.com or downloading it on iTunes.

The much anticipated film premieres March 9 at South By Southwest. Freda Kelly will attend the festival.

• For complete coverage of the film: Beatles 101: 'Good Ol' Freda' film update: Tracking the story

(Copyright Steve Marinucci. Please do not reprint in full on other sites without permission. Headlines with links, though, are fine. Posting any of our links to Twitter and Facebook is much appreciated.)

Don't miss a minute of the most informative coverage of Beatles news in all our Beatles columns Beatles Examiner, Paul McCartney Examiner, George Harrison Examiner and Ringo Starr Examiner to keep up with what's really happening with the Beatles.

To subscribe to this column, click the button above. And follow us on Twitter at @stevemarinucci and please use the hashtag #beatlesexaminer. We're also Steve Marinucci on Facebook and at www.ufollow.com or at www.pinterest.com. And don't miss our weekly Beatles news podcast “Things We Said Today” available on iTunes, Podbean.com and Fab4Radio.com on weekends.