Born Free (1966)

Director:

James Hill
(more)

Writers (WGA):

Joy Adamson (book)
Lester Cole (screenplay) (originally as Gerald L.C. Copley)

Release Date:

22 June 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Family

Tagline:

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

Plot:

Joy Adamson and her husband, Kenya game warden George Adamson, raise Elsa, a lion cub. When Elsa approaches maturity...

Plot Keywords:

Game Warden | Kenya | Lion | Lioness | Lion Cub

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Virginia McKenna	...	Joy Adamson
Bill Travers	...	George Adamson
Geoffrey Keen	...	Kendall
Peter Lukoye	...	Nuru
Omar Chambati	...	Makkede
Bill Godden	...	Sam
Bryan Epsom	...	Baker
Robert Cheetham	...	Ken
Robert S. Young	...	James (as Robert Young)
Geoffrey Best	...	Watson
Surya Patel	...	Doctor
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Elsa	...	Lion Cub / Lioness (uncredited)
Pati	...	Rock Hyrax (uncredited)

Directed by
James Hill
Tom McGowan		(uncredited)

Writing credits (WGA)
Joy Adamson		(book)
Lester Cole		(screenplay) originally as Gerald L.C. Copley

Produced by
Sam Jaffe	....	producer
Paul B. Radin	....	producer (as Paul Radin)

Original Music by
John Barry

Cinematography by
Kenneth Talbot		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Don Deacon

Production Management
Sidney G. Barnsby	....	production supervisor
L.C. Rudkin	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William P. Cartlidge	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Chris Greenham	....	sound editor
Claude Hitchcock	....	sound recordist
Bob Jones	....	sound recordist (as Robert Jones)
Richard Best Jr.	....	assistant sound editor (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Chic Anstiss	....	camera operator (as Rodney Anstiss)
Tom Watson	....	gaffer
Wally Wheatley	....	grip
John Jay	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Gordon Davie	....	assistant editor

Music Department
John Barry	....	conductor
Sidney Margo	....	music contractor (uncredited)

Other crew
George Adamson	....	chief technical adviser
Carl Foreman	....	presenter
Hal Mason	....	production coordinator
Jane Oscroft	....	production secretary
Kay Rawlings	....	continuity
Peter Whitehead	....	animal supervisor
Sieuwke Bisleti	....	animal trainer (uncredited)

Thanks
Haile Selassie	....	the producers are also most grateful for help received from (as His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia)

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation (present) (as Columbia Pictures)
• Open Road Films (II) (as An Open Road - Atlas Co-Production) (as Open Road Films Ltd. also)
• Atlas (as An Open Road - Atlas Co-Production) (as Atlas Films Ltd. also)
• Highroad (uncredited)

Distributors

• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1970) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Columbia Pictures (1966) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia (1966) (France) (theatrical) (as Columbia Pictures of France)
• Columbia-Bavaria Filmgesellschaft m.b.H. (1966) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (1986) (UK) (VHS)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2004) (UK) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Television (USA) (TV)
• Video Collection International (1993) (UK) (VHS)
• Videosonic Arts (1987) (Greece) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Game Department of Uganda, The  the producers are also most grateful for help received from (as The Game Department of Uganda)
• Kenya Game Department  photographed entirely on location in the Republic of Kenya with the kind co-operation of, to whom the makers of the film wish to express their gratitude (as The Kenya Game Department)
• National Parks of Kenya  photographed entirely on location in the Republic of Kenya with the kind co-operation of, to whom the makers of the film wish to express their gratitude (as the Kenya National Parks)

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated PG for some wild animal action and brief language

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:S | UK:U | USA:PG | Singapore:PG | Iceland:L | Sweden:11 | Sweden:Btl (cut)

Filming Locations:

Kenya

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The lions "Boy", "Girl" and "Ugas" were freed upon completion of filming. Under protest by the film studio who wanted to sell the lions to zoos to get some money back from filming.

Goofs:

Continuity: After another failure in the effort to find the right formula for the cubs, George asks Joy which number they're up to. She replies, "Nineteen." In the next two scenes, the "next" formula, the one that works, is referred to them both as number seventeen.

Quotes:

Joy Adamson:Elsa, Elsa
[Joy cries sitting out on the hood of the truck as they ride in search of the young lioness]
George Adamson:Let's try this.
[2 shots ring out from his gun. George sees Elsa stumbling through the grass, approaching their vehicle]
Joy Adamson:all my nightmares had come true.
[Now Elsa rests in their tent as they argue over her]
George Adamson:...she can't make it. she can't think. she can't mix with her own kind... She can't do anything the wild animals do to survive. You've done too good a job on her. You've made her tame. It's too late to try to let her go wild now. All we're doing is making her miserable, torturing her. How could you be so cruel?
Joy Adamson:You keep quiet George.
George Adamson:I don't know what goes on in that head of yours anymore... What's wrong with a zoo, anyway?
Joy Adamson:nothing. Except that she won't be free.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Nature: Elsa's Legacy: The Born Free Story (#29.7)" (2011)

Soundtrack:

Born Free

Returning Lions To The Wild

Set in Kenya in the 1960's, and based on factual events, the film is the story of how a young orphaned lion cub is rescued by a British colonial couple who run a wildlife sanctuary and then prepared for a return to the wild. The scenery is spectacular, and the thin dividing line between death and survival in the wild is palpable. But the film is not only about struggle, it is, in an almost unique way, a love story too; one between a woman and a lioness. Hugely popular when released, the film still has the power to move. An especially good movie for families.