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Real-life husband and wife Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers play real-life husband and wife Joy and George Adamson. Strangely, the chemistry between them is really not played up here. Everything is focused on the cubs, perhaps as it should be. This film takes what could've just been another National Geographic episode and turns it into a "triumph of the spirit" story. When you watch this film, you understand the true meaning of freedom. And you can't help but look at that lion and want the best for her. The title song is a perfect ending to the film. It is too bad the Adamsons' lives did not have a happy ending like this story. The film keeps it simple, but there are still some emotional moments. It delivers what it promises.

"Born Free" (1965) is a great film for animal lovers, especially cat lovers. It tells the story of a couple living in Africa who come across three orphan lion cubs and keep one female, whom they name Elsa. Later they are pressured to give Elsa up to a zoo, but the woman can't because, as she argues, Elsa was born free and should therefore live free. She'd never be happy in a zoo.

Unfortunately, Elsa has become too tame as a result of living with the couple. Can Elsa ever adapt to the wild or will she be condemned to a cage in a zoo?

The footage of Elsa with the couple is amazing. She's like their pet cat! I'd love to have a lioness pet to hug and pat and walk around the yard with!

Shot in beautiful Kenya, the film runs 95 minutes.

GRADE: B+

True life story. George and Joy Adamson (Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna) live in the wilderness in Kenya. In self defense, George kills a lion and his mate only to find they were protecting their three cubs. He and his wife decide to raise the cubs. They give two of them away to zoos, but can't part with Elsa, a lioness. But then they realize they can't keep her and don't want to put her in a zoo. Can they help her live in the wild?

I read the book "Born Free" when I was in grammar school in the 70s and loved it. I also vaguely remember seeing the movie on TV (and liking it) and the very short-lived (13 episodes) series in the early 70s. Also the song was a big hit in the mid 60s and again in the early 70s. But I had forgotten all about it until it popped up on TCM. I decided to tune in and loved it!

The movie was shot beautifully on ___location in Kenya (where it took place). Wide screen viewing is essential for this one. Also, Travers and McKenna were a real-life couple when they did this film (in fact they remained married until his death in 1994) and there devotion to each other comes through loud and clear. Also the lions (male and female) are SO cute when they're cubs and even beautiful as they get older. Elsa herself was portrayed by a number of different lionesses but you can't tell the difference. And Travers and McKenna worked with all the animals for 2 weeks before filming so they all interact together perfectly. This is perfect family viewing--adults will adore it as much as the kids.

I'm only giving it a 7 for a few reasons--there isn't much of a story and the film DOES drag a little. Also the cute little shots of the cubs get a little bit much. Yeah they are adorable, but it got to the point that I thought the filmmakers were purposely shoving them in our faces to get us to go "awwwwwwww"! A little bit too cute for my tastes.

Still it's a great film and the music in this one is fantastic (and Oscar-winning). Also I defy anyone not to cry during the final sequence--it even got to me and I'm the last person to cry at movies like this.

A very good family film. See it!

Joy Adamson and her husband, Kenya game warden George Adamson, bring up a lion cub Elsa, but later they have to teach her about the wild and free life she was born to.

Warm, good-looking but rather casually assembled screen version of a highly popular bestseller, with irresistible animal shots that made it enormously successful at the box-office - and over the years a family film "par excellence". It started a cycle then and was followed by the less successful "Living Free".

Innocence, the magnetism of the east African plains, and lions to boot! A great movie for a steamy summer night (atmosphere is important too). The score by John Barry is very good, and I imagine there are few 'boomers who would not recognize the strains of Matt Monro (not Perry Como) singing the title song. I always liked Bill Travers as an actor in all the roles I've seen him in, Born Free is no exception. Virginia McKenna's lovely soft soothing Scots brogue is honey to the ears, and she does a great job as Joy Adamson. How accurate their portrayals of the Adamson's are... well, it doesn't really matter. Elsa is the star, and that's how it should be. In short, great family fair for a movie at home.