Born Free

"From The Pages Of The Beloved Best Seller... A Motion Picture To Delight All The World!"

1966 1h 35m EN

👍

6.8

SOLID

★6.8TMDB · 134

AdventureFamilyDramaHistory

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“From The Pages Of The Beloved Best Seller... A Motion Picture To Delight All The World!”

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Cast

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

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: James Hill
Writers: Lester Cole
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

60 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Born Free Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by James Hill, shot by Kenneth Talbot. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by John Barry. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Don Deacon shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers and Geoffrey Keen carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "From The Pages Of The Beloved Best Seller... A Motion Picture To Delight All The World!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0060182 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

James Hill directs. Kenneth Talbot behind the camera. John Barry scores. Don Deacon cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

160 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Part of the "Born Free Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
3Directed by James Hill, shot by Kenneth Talbot. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by John Barry. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Don Deacon shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers and Geoffrey Keen carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "From The Pages Of The Beloved Best Seller... A Motion Picture To Delight All The World!".
8IMDB entry: tt0060182 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 15 themes, including "parent child relationship", "freedom", "lion", "animal attack".

The technical file

Cinematography: Kenneth Talbot
Original score: John Barry
Editing: Don Deacon
Runtime: 95 min · 1h 35m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: Born Free (1966)

Awards

Academy Award for Best Original Score
Genesis Award
National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Part of

Born Free Collection

Also by

James Hill

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2016-03-26
★ 8/10
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 Barry 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
Reno2016-08-04
★ 8/10
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, that'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