In the Northern province of Kenya, British Game Warden George Adamson is forced to kill a man-eating lion and his lioness. He realises too late that the lioness was charging in defence of her three cubs and so, realising the cubs are now motherless, brings them home so he and his wife Joy can raise them. They name the cubs Big One, Lustika and Elsa. When the cubs become too old, Big One and Lustika are sent off to Rotterdam Zoo whilst George and Joy keep Elsa, having become especially attached to her.
Years later, George’s boss, John Kendall informs him that a lion in Kiunga has been killing goats in a local village. George is sent to kill the lion, which he does successfully, allowing him and Joy to enjoy a holiday with Elsa near the Indian ocean. When they return to the Northern Province, the Adamsons learn that Elsa has caused a massive elephant stampede. John says that they can no longer keep Elsa and must find a zoo. However, Joy instead wishes to set Elsa free, believing a zoo would make her miserable. John reluctantly agrees to give the Adamson three months to do so.
The Adamsons bring Elsa to the Meru National Park to begin her rehabilitation. They start off by trying to introduce her to a wild lion along with a kill. This does not go to plan as they return the next day only to find Elsa all alone. Elsa continually fails to make a kill, being attacked by a warthog during one attempt. Eventually, the Adamsons decide to leave Elsa for a week in the bush to encourage her to become more independent. However, they find her severely injured, possibly by wild lions. George now believes Elsa cannot survive so must be sent to a zoo, which Joy opposes, wanting Elsa to have her freedom. This proves to be a good decision because Elsa eventually leaves for days at a time, making several kills by herself. When she comes into season, she is taken out for her final test: joining a wild pride. Despite initially being attacked, Elsa is accepted into a pride much to Joy and George’s relief.
A year later, the Adamsons return to Kenya in search of Elsa. They are delighted to discover that she has thrived as a wild lion and is now a mother to three cubs. However, Joy and George decide to let the cubs remain wild instead of hand-rearing them as they did with Elsa and her sisters.
The film's credits list lions and lionesses Boy, Girl, Henrietta, Mara, Ugas, and "the Cubs".
Production
The film reunited the real-life couple Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna as a couple first seen together in The Smallest Show on Earth in 1957.
George Adamson served as chief technical advisor on the film and discusses his involvement in his first autobiography, Bwana Game (UK title, 1968), known in the US as A Lifetime with Lions.[3] According to Ben Mankiewicz, who introduces the film on Turner Classic Movies, the production unit mainly used wild lions.[citation needed]
One of the lions in the film was played by a former mascot of the Scots Guards, who had to leave him behind when they left Kenya.[4] The producers also acknowledged the help received from Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia and the Game Department of Uganda.
Critical response and box-office
Born Free received critical acclaim. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 88% of 17 film critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 7.1 out of 10.[5]
Vincent Canby waxed enthusiastic about the film, writing in The New York Times, "Almost from the opening shot – a vast expanse of corn-coloured African plain where lions feed on the carcass of a freshly killed zebra – one knows that Joy Adamson's best-selling book Born Free has been entrusted to honest, intelligent filmmakers. Without minimising the facts of animal life or overly sentimentalising them, this film casts an enchantment that is just about irresistible."[6]
The film was one of the most popular movies at the box office in Britain during 1966.[7]
The book Born Free (1960) was followed by two other books, Living Free (1961) and Forever Free (1963). A film sequel titled Living Free was directed by Jack Couffer and released in 1972. While deriving its name from the second book, the film was based on the third book in the series. It starred Susan Hampshire and Nigel Davenport as Joy and George Adamson although the film was not as well-received as its predecessor.
A documentary follow-up to Born Free, titled The Lions Are Free, was directed by James Hill and Bill Travers and released in 1969. The film follows Born Free actor Bill Travers as he journeys to a remote area in Kenya to visit George Adamson, and several of Adamson's lion friends.
In 1974, a 13-episode American television series was broadcast by NBC, titled Born Free, starring Diana Muldaur and Gary Collins as Joy and George Adamson. The series was later followed by the 1996 television film Born Free: A New Adventure directed by Tommy Lee Wallace and starring Linda Purl and Chris Noth. Joy and George Adamson do not appear as the main characters in the story. It spawned a TV series in 1998, but none of the episodes aired in the U.S.
On 28th September 2010 BBC Four ran a number of programs to mark the 50th anniversary of the publishing of the book, Born Free.[15] These included a new one hour documentary entitled 'The Born Free Legacy'.[16] It explores the story behind the book 'Born Free' about the lives of Joy and George Adamson with the orphaned lion cub Elsa. It then looks at the huge impact the book, and the subsequent 1966 movie had on the growing wildlife conservation movement. It includes archive footage and clips of interviews with the Adamson's as well as various contributions from people including Virginia McKenna, Tony Fitzjohn (George Adamson's long time assistant) and Sir David Attenborough.
On 1st February 2011 the long running BBC series Natural World broadcast episode 10 of series 29 which was entitled 'Elsa: The Lioness that Changed the World'.[17] This episode, narrated by actor Richard Armitage, looked back at Elsa's life and legacy, and the work done by George Adamson to rehabilitate lions into the wild following the making of the Born Free film. [18] A slightly shortened version of this episode, this time narrated by the conservationist Chris Morgan, under the title Elsa's Legacy: The Born Free Story was also shown as part of the Nature TV series , released on PBS stations in January 2011.[19]
Elsa the lioness was a female lion raised along with her sisters "Big One" and "Lustica" by game warden George Adamson and his wife Joy Adamson after they were orphaned at only a few days old. Though her two sisters eventually went to the Netherlands' Rotterdam Zoo, Elsa was trained by the Adamsons to survive on her own, and was eventually released into the wild.
Friederike Victoria "Joy" Adamson was a naturalist, artist and author. Her book, Born Free, describes her experiences raising a lion cub named Elsa. Born Free was printed in several languages, and made into an Academy Award-winning movie of the same name. In 1977, she was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art.
The Samburu National Reserve is a game reserve on the banks of the Ewaso Ng'iro river in Kenya. On the other side of the river is the Buffalo Springs National Reserve. The park is 165 km² in size and is situated 350 kilometers from Nairobi. It ranges in altitude from 800 to 1230 m above sea level. Geographically and administratively, it is part of Samburu County.
George Alexander Graham Adamson MBE, also known as the Baba ya Simba, was a British wildlife conservationist and author based in Kenya. His wife Joy Adamson related in her best-selling book Born Free (1960) the couple's life with Elsa the Lioness, an orphaned lioness cub they raised and later released into the wild.
Dame Virginia Anne McKenna is a British stage and screen actress, author, animal rights activist, and wildlife campaigner. She is best known for the films A Town Like Alice (1956), Carve Her Name with Pride (1958), Born Free (1966), and Ring of Bright Water (1969), as well as her work with the Born Free Foundation.
William Inglis Lindon Travers was a British actor, screenwriter, director and animal rights activist. Before his show business career, he served in the British Army with Gurkha and special forces units.
The Born Free Foundation is an international wildlife charity that campaigns to "Keep Wildlife in the Wild". It protects wild animals in their natural habitat, campaigns against the keeping of wild animals in captivity and rescues wild animals in need. It also promotes compassionate conservation, which takes into account the welfare of individual animals in conservation initiatives. Born Free also creates and provides educational materials and activities that reflect the charity's values.
Meru National Park is a Kenyan national park located east of Meru, 350 km (220 mi) from Nairobi. Covering an area of 870 km2 (340 sq mi), it is one best known national parks in Kenya. Rainfall in this area is abundant with 635–762 mm (25.0–30.0 in) in the west of the park and 305–356 mm (12.0–14.0 in) in the east. The rainfall results in tall grass and lush swamps.
To Walk with Lions is a 1999 film directed by Carl Schultz and starring Richard Harris as George Adamson and John Michie as Tony Fitzjohn. It follows the later years of Lion advocate Adamson.
Born Free is an American adventure/drama series based on the 1966 movie of the same name. It aired on the NBC television network from September 9 to December 30, 1974, produced by Columbia Pictures Television and starring and narrated by Diana Muldaur.
Mara the Lioness (1965–1974) was an animal actor who appeared as Elsa in the 1966 movie Born Free, based on the true story of Elsa the Lioness raised by George and Joy Adamson.
Christian the lion was a lion born in captivity and purchased by Australian John Rendall and Anthony "Ace" Bourke from Harrods department store in London in 1969. He was later reintroduced to the African wild by conservationist George Adamson. Two years after Adamson released Christian to the wild, his former owners decided to go looking for him to see whether Christian would remember them. He did, and with him were two lionesses who accepted the men as well.
James Hill was a British film and television director, screenwriter and producer whose career spanned 52 years between 1937 and 1989, best remembered for his documentaries and short subjects such as Giuseppina and The Home-Made Car, and as director of the internationally acclaimed Born Free.
Living Free is a 1972 British drama film, written by Millard Kaufman and directed by Jack Couffer. It starred Nigel Davenport, Susan Hampshire and Geoffrey Keen. This film is a sequel to Born Free (1966), which was based on the 1960 book of the same name by Joy Adamson. The film Living Free is also based on a book by Joy Adamson; however, it is not based on the book of the same name but is instead based on the third book in the series, Forever Free. Singer Julie Budd sang the title song, composed by Sol Kaplan and Freddy Douglass.
Gary Hodges is a British artist and publisher much admired internationally for his graphite pencil wildlife art. His original drawings and limited edition prints have sold widely in the UK and throughout the world and is collected by large numbers of ordinary citizens, many not previously seeing themselves as "art collectors". During his career he has sold over 110,000 limited edition prints from 130 editions. His popularity has influenced and encouraged many other artists to develop intricate styles with pencil. He has a close connection to various environmental and wildlife conservation groups for whom he provides considerable financial support.
Shaba National Reserve is a protected area in Isiolo County in northern Kenya to the east of the Samburu and Buffalo Springs national reserves. Together, the three reserves form a large protected area.
Born Free: A New Adventure is a 1996 American television adventure film starring Jonathan Brandis and Ariana Richards. The film was written by John McGreevey and directed by Tommy Lee Wallace. It was first aired on ABC on April 27, 1996. The film was shot entirely in South Africa.
William Morell Lindon Travers is an English director, writer, broadcaster and animal rights activist. He is president of the Born Free Foundation, Born Free USA and Species Survival Network. He is the son of English actors and wildlife campaigners Bill Travers (1922–1994) and Virginia McKenna, and nephew of actress Linden Travers.
An Elephant Called Slowly is a 1969 British film from the team that made Born Free. It starred the elephant Pole Pole. The film was shot on location in Kenya.
References
↑ Champlin, C. (10 October 1966). "Foreman hopes to reverse runaway". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest155553672.
↑ "Big Rental Pictures of 1966", Variety, 4 January 1967 p. 8
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