Born Free

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For the 1966 song, see Born Free (song).
Born Free
Directed by James H. Hill
Produced by Sam Jaffe
Bill Travers
Written by Joy Adamson (book)
Lester Cole (screenplay)
Starring Virginia McKenna
Bill Travers
Music by John Barry
Cinematography Kenneth Talbot
Editing by Don Deacon
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Running time 95 min.
Language English
IMDb profile

Born Free is a 1966 motion picture based upon the true-life 1960 international bestselling book written by Joy Adamson about herself, her game warden husband, George Adamson, and Elsa, the orphaned cub lioness they raised while living in Kenya, East Africa. George Adamson served as Chief Technical Advisor on the film,[1] and he discusses his involvement in the film in his first autobiography book, in UK titled Bwana Game 1968 and the USA titled A Lifetime with Lions 1968.[2] The screenplay was written by blacklisted Hollywood writer Lester Cole using the pseudonym "Gerald L.C. Copley".

The film depicts the dilemma the Adamsons eventually faced when their time in Kenya came to an end, forcing them to decide whether to place Elsa in a zoo, which Joy opposed, or to attempt to teach the domesticated lioness to hunt and fend for herself in the wild.

The film is noted for its soundtrack composed by John Barry; in addition to the score winning two Academy Awards, the title song "Born Free" became a pop music hit for the pianist Roger Williams, for Matt Monro who sang the title song in the film, and for The Hesitations. Andy Williams also covered the song and released an album of the same name the next year.

The making of the film was a life-changing experience for actors Virginia McKenna and her husband Bill Travers who became animal rights activists and who were instrumental in creating the Born Free Foundation.

A sequel Living Free followed in 1972, this time with Susan Hampshire and Nigel Davenport as Joy and George Adamson. The sequel is based not on the book by the same name, but on the third book of the series, Forever Free.

To Walk With Lions, released in 1999, depicts the last years of George Adamson's life, as seen through the eyes of his assistant, Tony Fitzjohn. George is portrayed by Richard Harris; Honor Blackman makes a brief appearance as Joy.

In 1974 there was a 13-episode U.S. television series broadcast by NBC, entirely fiction, titled Born Free, starring Diana Muldaur and Gary Collins as Joy and George Adamson

Contents

[edit] Real life sequel to Born Free

The Lions are Free is the real life continuation of the award winning movie classic Born Free. This film tells in a most personal way what happened to the lions that were in the movie Born Free. Bill Travers who played the role of George Adamson in the movie Born Free, travels to a remote area in Kenya to visit conservationist George Adamson and several of George's lion friends. This film has some incredible scenes of George and Bill interacting with lions who are living free. James Hill, who directed Born Free, produced this film along with Bill Travers. In November 2006 this film and the film Christian The Lion At World's End were both released on DVD.[3]

[edit] Principal cast

Awards won

Award nominations

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0011487/
  2. ^ http://www.fatheroflions.org/Bibliography.html
  3. ^ http://www.fatheroflions.org/BooksVideosDVDs.html

[edit] External links


Preceded by
"The Shadow of Your Smile" from The Sandpiper		 Academy Award for Best Original Song
1966		 Succeeded by
"Talk to the Animals" from Doctor Dolittle
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