Living Free (1972)

When Elsa's three mischievous cubs begin wreaking havoc on the nearby villages, Joy and her husband are forced to move them hundreds of miles to a game preserve.

Director:

Jack Couffer

Writers:

Joy Adamson (book), Millard Kaufman (screenplay)

Stars:

Nigel Davenport, Susan Hampshire, Geoffrey Keen

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nigel Davenport	...	George Adamson
Susan Hampshire	...	Joy Adamson
Geoffrey Keen	...	Kendall
Edward Judd	...	Game Warden Weaver
Peter Lukoye	...	Nuru
Shane De Louvre	...	Makedde
Robert Beaumont	...	Billy Collins
Nobby Noble	...	Bank Manager
Charles Hayes	...	Herbert Baker
Allaudin Qureshi	...	Bank Clerk (as Aludin Quershi)
Jean Hayes	...	Mrs. Herbert Baker
Elsa	...	Herself
Jespah	...	Himself
Gopa	...	Herself
Little Elsa	...	Herself

Storyline

When Elsa's three mischievous cubs begin wreaking havoc on the nearby villages, Joy and her husband are forced to move them hundreds of miles to a game preserve.

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Plot Keywords:

village | game preserve | violence | animal attack | stork | 

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Taglines:

The New African Adventures!

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Family

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 January 1972 (UK)

Also Known As:

Drei Strolche in der Wildnis

Filming Locations:

Twickenham Studios, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Columbia Pictures Corporation, Open Road Films (II)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor) (uncredited)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna were asked to reprise their roles as George and Joy Adamson but declined.

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Crazy Credits

Closing credits: This is a true story . . .

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Connections

Followed by Born Free (1974)

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Soundtracks

Living Free
By Sol Kaplan and Freddy Douglass
Sung by Julie Budd

User Reviews

Ugh

LIVING FREE is the low budget sequel to the original African lion classic, BORN FREE. It says a lot that Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna didn't return for this follow-up, which casts Nigel Davenport and Susan Hampshire as the same characters before going on to tell the same story.

And boy, is this horrendous. All of the charm and originality of the first film is missing here, leaving LIVING FREE feeling like a cheap cash-in more than anything else. The early scenes feature some excruciating re-staging of scenes from the first movie but with the new actors, while the latter half tells a straightforward story in a long and protracted way.

The problem with this film lies with the actors, who just don't have the genuine love for the animals that the original cast members did. Particularly awful is Susan Hampshire, whose acting is embarrassingly awful: grating, overstated, sanctimonious when delivering her lines. Even worse, Millard Kaufman's screenplay presents Joy Adamson as a selfish, self-centred and quite obnoxious character who cares only for her own enjoyment, and I'm sure this is a disservice to the real-life Adamson.

The only decent scenes in this are the scenes of the lion cubs playing and interacting with the natural world, but even these moments are spoiled by Hampshire's plummy, say-the-obvious voice-overs. Although I like this 'animal' sub-genre and especially classics like RING OF BRIGHT WATER and BORN FREE, LIVING FREE is definitely worth skipping.