Born Free

Born Free is a 1966 British drama film starring Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers as Joy and George Adamson, a real-life couple who raised Elsa the Lioness, an orphaned lion cub, to adulthood, and released her into the wilderness of Kenya. The film was produced by Open Road Films Ltd. and Columbia Pictures. The screenplay, written by blacklisted Hollywood writer Lester Cole (under the pseudonym "Gerald L.C. Copley"), was based upon Joy Adamson's 1960 non-fiction book Born Free. The film was directed by James Hill and produced by Sam Jaffe and Paul Radin. Born Free, and its musical score by John Barry, won numerous awards.

Plot
After killing a lion who was attacking people, Joy and George take care of one of it's orphaned cubs, Elsa the lion, when deciding that it's time for Elsa to live in the wild, Joy and George try to help teach Elsa how to survive in the wild.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) The story stays true to original source material perfectly.
 * 2) The soundtrack is very beautiful, especially the opening song "Born Free".
 * 3) Africa looks beautiful in this film.
 * 4) The film adds several new elements that weren’t in the original story to make it more unique and original.
 * 5) Great acting.
 * 6) The film has several emotional moments.
 * 7) The film gives out a message that wild animals should not be kept as pets and should stay with their families in the wild.

Awards
The film won an Academy Award for Best Song for Born Free.

Trivia

 * This was one of the first films released on Betamax and VHS by Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment when that label started up in November 1979, releasing 22 of Columbia's films (like this film and Midnight Express) in blue/white clamshell packaging on the two formats.