    born free is a 1966 technicolor 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 movie 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== when george adamson is forced to kill a lioness out of self-defense, he brings home the 3 orphaned cubs she had been trying to protect. the adamsons tend to the three orphaned lion cubs to young lionhood, and, when the time comes, the two largest are sent to the rotterdam zoo, while elsa the lioness (the smallest of the litter) remains with joy. when elsa is held responsible for stampeding a herd of elephants through a village, john kendall, adamson's boss gives the couple three months to either rehabilitate elsa to the wild, or send her to a zoo. joy opposes sending elsa to a zoo, and spends much time attempting to re-introduce elsa to the life of a wild lion in a distant reserve. at last, joy succeeds, and with mixed feelings and a breaking heart, she returns her friend to the wild. the adamsons then depart for their home in england; a year later, they return to kenya for a week, hoping to find elsa. they do, and happily discover she hasn't forgotten them, and is the mother of three cubs. ==cast== * virginia mckenna as joy adamson * bill travers as george adamson * geoffrey keen as john kendall * peter lukoye as nuru * surya pat
1960s_adventure_films 1966_films British_drama_films British_films Children\'s_films Columbia_Pictures_films English-language_films Environmental_films Film_scores_by_John_Barry_(composer) Films_about_animals Films_about_cats Films_about_lions Films_about_orphans Films_based_on_actual_events Films_directed_by_James_Hill_(British_director) Films_set_in_Africa Films_set_in_Kenya Films_set_in_the_British_Empire Films_shot_in_Kenya Films_that_won_the_Best_Original_Score_Academy_Award Films_that_won_the_Best_Original_Song_Academy_Award