Born Free

Born Free is a 1966 British drama film about 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.

Directed by James Hill. Written by blacklisted Hollywood writer Lester Cole (under the pseudonym "Gerald L.C. Copley"), based on Joy Adamson's 1960 non-fiction book Born Free.

The book that enthralled 50 million readers... Now a Great Motion Picture!  (taglines)

Dialogue

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.

George Adamson: and Is freedom so important?

Joy Adamson: yes, yes, she was born free and she has the right to live free. Why don't we live in a more comfortable setting George? Other people do. We chose to live out here cause it represents freedom for us. Because we can breathe.

George Adamson: Joy, tell me the truth. You just don't want to give her up. What you're really hoping is that she can stay out here, wild, but not too wild. That you can see her every now and then.

Joy Adamson: it's not the whole truth. But I don't deny I'd like it.

George Adamson: it's impossible. It cannot happen.

Joy Adamson: ...at least she would be free. At least she wouldn't be in a cage for the rest of her life.

George Adamson: even if she gets herself killed in the process.

Joy Adamson: [stroking Elsa's leg] I'd never forgive myself I suppose. [narrates] although at one time we were afraid she'd die, Elsa did recover. And when she did, she seemed somehow different.

Taglines

• From The Pages Of The Beloved Best Seller... A Motion Picture To Delight All The World!
• The book that enthralled 50 million readers... Now a Great Motion Picture!

Cast

• Virginia McKenna as Joy Adamson
• Bill Travers as George Adamson
• Geoffrey Keen as John Kendall
• Peter Lukoye as Nuru
• Surya Patel as the Doctor
• Geoffrey Best as Watson, a big game hunter
• Bill Godden as Sam

The film's credits list lions and lionesses Boy, Girl, Henrietta, Mara, Ugas, and "the Cubs".