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Born Free

From The Pages Of The Beloved Best Seller... A Motion Picture To Delight All The World!
1966 | 95m | English

(7401 votes)

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Popularity: 2 (history)

Details

At a national park in Kenya, English game warden George Adamson and his wife, Joy, care for three orphaned lion cubs. After the two larger lions are shipped off to a zoo in the Netherlands, the smallest of the three, Elsa, stays with the couple. When Elsa is blamed for causing an elephant stampede in the nearby village, head warden John Kendall demands the young lion either be trained to survive in the wilds of the Serengeti or be sent to a zoo.
Release Date: Mar 26, 1966
Director: James Hill, Tom McGowan
Writer: Lester Cole, Joy Adamson
Genres: Family, Adventure, Drama, History
Keywords parent child relationship, lion, animal attack, freedom, game warden, lioness, lion cub, rifle, animal rights, warthog, wildlife, based on memoir or autobiography, animals, nature
Production Companies High Road, Open Road Films
Box Office Revenue: $0
Budget: $0
Updates Updated: Feb 01, 2025
Entered: Apr 13, 2024
Trailers and Extras

Backdrops

International Posters

Full Credits

Name Character
Virginia McKenna Joy Adamson
Bill Travers George Adamson
Geoffrey Keen Kendall
Peter Lukoye Nuru
Omar Chambati Makkede
Bill Godden Sam
Robert S. Young James
Bryan Epsom Baker
Geoffrey Best Watson
Robert Cheetham Ken
Surya Patel Doctor
Elsa Lion Cub/Lioness (uncredited)
Pati Rock Hyrax (uncredited)
Name Job
Don Black Lyricist
John Barry Original Music Composer, Songs
James Hill Director
L. C. Rudkin Production Manager
Chris Greenham Sound Editor
Richard Best Jr. Assistant Sound Editor
Don Deacon Editor
Kenneth Talbot Director of Photography
William P. Cartlidge Assistant Director
Claude Hitchcock Sound Recordist
John D. Hall Boom Operator
Lester Cole Screenplay
Joy Adamson Book
Sidney G. Barnsby Production Supervisor
Gavrik Losey Assistant Director
Tom McGowan Director
Bob Jones Sound Recordist
Name Title
Carl Foreman Executive Producer
Paul B. Radin Producer
Sam Jaffe Producer
Organization Category Person
Popularity Metrics

Popularity History


Year Month Avg Max Min
2024 4 17 28 10
2024 5 19 30 11
2024 6 18 29 9
2024 7 18 26 12
2024 8 14 23 9
2024 9 13 19 7
2024 10 11 17 7
2024 11 11 21 7
2024 12 11 28 6
2025 1 12 21 6
2025 2 9 13 3
2025 3 5 13 1
2025 4 1 1 1
2025 5 1 1 1
2025 6 1 1 1
2025 7 1 1 0
2025 8 1 1 0
2025 9 2 4 1
2025 10 3 3 2

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Reviews

John Chard
8.0

The wonders of Elsa. Born Free is based on George and Joy Adamson and their raising of a lioness during their time living at a game reserve in Kenya. It's directed by James Hill, adapted to screenplay by Lester Cole, and stars Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers as the Adamsons. Music is by John Ba ... rry and cinematography by Kenneth Talbot. It's a classic case of a family film keeping everything simple for maximum results. A big hit upon release, as was the book written by Joy Adamson, the beautiful landscapes and emotionally swirling musical score marry up perfectly with the story being told. There's some liberties taken with the facts, both with humans and lions, but we aren't in to this pic for any sort of misery or grimy drama. We want, and get, feel good, a time for animal lovers to rejoice and wipe that fly from the eye. 8/10

May 16, 2024
Rangan
8.0

> We want them to be an angel, but being wild is what defines them. I thought I dreamt about these lions when I was a kid, but when I came to know about this film that made me realise I actually saw this film when I was a very young to remember anything. It was a few images remained in memory, th ... at's how I tracked it. So while watching this now brought back those scary moments. Yep, I was scared like hell, like the character Kendall from it was. Childhood is like a dream, until we re-encounter those things we held, met, seen, which wakes up our memory after a long time and becoming adults. I really enjoyed watching it, because I love animals. But what I did not like was harming the animals. I don't think animals were harmed while making this film, and they even smartly censored story/scene that consists harming/killing them. Actually the film was inspired by the real story, in that, the animals were killed and that is what this film depicted, yet disappoints from that perspective. The time has changed, now it is different, we learnt our lesson, so I hope we focus on protecting this magnificent animal to be born free and to be wild. The Africa was very beautifully portrayed. One of the best films on the wild animal theme I've ever seen. It was a documentary style narration with a little story from the human couple. Hats off to the real Joy and George Adamson. It won a couple of Oscars in the category of music and song. But I think it deserved more than that. I can't believe it is rated PG, but I scared watching it as a kid and I believe the young children with the awareness of the true nature of the lions would do the same. But still highly recommended for all ages. We have now 'Duma', 'Two Brothers' and many more, but this film is something special and you will know it after a watch. 8/10

May 16, 2024