My parents obviously saw the need to teach my siblings I that lesson because when this film was in its post release and had a drive-in showing, we all got to go, and that was one of my earliest film-going experiences which remains with me almost 50 years later. It isn't only the sprawling beauty of Kenya or the joyous title song which to this day instills tears, but the love and kindness of the heroine Joy Adamson (the beautiful Virginia McKenna) who raises a lioness cub to adulthood with the help of her loving but concerned explorer husband (Bill Travers). George Adamson was forced to shoot the cub's parents when they charged at him and his party, but was caring enough to bring the three cubs back. The story starts with Joy finger-feeding the stubborn cubs milk and shows how the two stronger cubs followed Joy's favorite cub Elsa's lead and began drinking as well. This establishes Elsa as a true heroine among cats because her accepting milk from a human saved her sibling's lives.When the curious cubs begin to get too big, Joy agrees that they must be taken to a zoo, but her love for Elsa forces George to keep this one behind. Elsa begins to think of the Adamsons as her parents, showering them with love and following them around more like a big dog than a big cat. But Elsa's natural instincts begin to take over and when finding herself in a herd of elephants, Elsa creates a stampede which infuriates the locales who demand that the Adamsons due something about the now too large adult lioness. Elsa though isn't trained to kill to eat, so in order to prepare her to be set free (Joy wouldn't hear about the zoo!), they take her to the wilds to find a mate and let her go. A truly funny scene has a very lazy male lion pretty much ignoring the affectionate Elsa as George and Joy watch (what, no privacy?) and later, Elsa gets literally into a cat-fight with another lioness over the king of beasts holding court on top of the African plane rocks.This is a movie of triumphing over the impossible which shows how human love for God's other creatures can cause them to sometimes think more with their hearts then with their brains, and how they try to amend the situation. In many cases, it reminded me of "The Miracle Worker" with Joy replacing Annie Sullivan and Elsa replacing Helen Keller. Both Joy and Annie had truly difficult obstacles to overcome and Helen and Elsa had to learn in their own way and time what their teachers were trying to get through to them. You won't be able to hold your tears in for the final scene where you feel you literally can here the beloved Elsa saying "Thank You" to Joy as nature and the good side of humanity come together for one last visit.

Born Free has an interesting post colonial undertone of 1960s Kenya. Elsa the lion symbolizes the British controlled colony and the white settlers in Kenya (Joy and George) symbolize the British who realize that it would be wrong to free Kenya/Lions without proper training and preparation to survive in the real world. It is very revealing that the white people in the film are the ones who know how to train the lions and take care of them and the blacks in the film are basically followers and do not have the ability to raise and care for the animals. We see the same logic in the history of colonization. White Europeans realize that only THEY know what is best for Africa and the Africans are simply expected to follow. And what's the deal with George and his malaria??? Not sure what the purpose is in bringing that up. The trailer is hilarious!!! They keep saying the lions live in the jungle!!! I think that was to appeal to the audience ignorant of Africa--probably most Americans in the 60s did think Africa was one big jungle.

Born Fee may be the greatest and most beautiful animal film ever created! It is the true story of Elsa, the lioness whom a Kenyan couple, George and Joy Adamson, raise as a cub, take in as a pet, when George is forced to shoot Elsa's Mother in self defense as she charges at him. Shortly afterword, George leans that the reason why the Mother lioness tried to attack him, she was protecting her cubs.The Adamson's take in the entire liter of three cubs and grow very attached to them. When the cubs are on the screen, the emotional bond that the viewer feels is unforgettably blended with the beautiful backdrop of Africa scenery. Filmed in Kenya, where the real story happened, the Cinematography and music are spell-bounding! You really feel drawn into the lives of the couple and the lion cubs, and especially Elsa! Joy becomes most attached to Elsa, the smallest of the liter. When the other cubs become too difficult to manage, in a heartbreaking scene, they are sent to a zoo. George and Joy decide to keep Elsa. However, as she matures, the couple's friends and villagers become concerned, because Elsa has been frightening off villagers and livestock. The couple are dedicated and determined that Elsa would never be happy in a zoo or any other captivity environment, as Joy through tears says, "She was born free, she deserves to live free!" The couple than must do what has never been done before. Take Elsa from a domesticated pet and train her how to be wild. They spend hours, months, teaching her how to hunt, deal with conflict, and courtship. This film tags at the heartstrings big time, because there are scenes where she chases the truck after they are forced to leave her alone for the first time and she starts chasing the truck. Or the heartbreaking scene where she comes back to George and Joy's camp starving or hurt because she hasn't yet learned how to take care and hunt for herself.Finally, after Elsa kills a warthog, the Adamson's learn that she can be on her own. The movie ends with George and Joy reuniting with Elsa and her own family of cubs in a beautiful mountainous, hillside view, with the unforgettable title tune by Matt Monro that will send emotional chills up your spine and bring tears to your eyes. This is a landmark film that is flawless! A beautiful film for families and children to learn about the importance of kindness to animals and the difficulty that it can take making a wild animal into a domestic pet.Tragically, the real Elsa only lived about five years. She died of what appeared to be a severe tick disease similar to what is called "animal malaria." The work of Joy and George Adamson's devotion to protecting and preserving animal life remained for many years after Born Free. They showed that animals were just as important to be card for and loved as humans and that human contact and compassion with them can create a bond, lasting a lifetime.However, in 1980, Joy Adamson who was known to be very forceful and demanding with her camp staff, was tragically found stabbed to death near her camp. Originally, authorities belied that she had been mauled by a lion, but the autopsy reports showed that her wounds were not consistent with an animal attack. The story is that a disgruntled worker, alleged that Joy had not paid him for two weeks, and they got into a fight. He alleges that Joy shot at him but no evidence has surfaced to support this. Angered over not being paid, he stabbed her to death and was sentenced to life in prison, escaping the death penalty by hanging,since Joy's attacker's age could not be proved, the judge sentenced him to life in prison.George Adamson suffered a similar tragic fate when in 1989 he was shot to death by poachers who were attacking a tourist who had been visiting him. George was able to save the life of the tourist, in an incredible heroic effort for an over 80 year old man! However, George himself did not survive the shooting. In news that shattered hearts around the world, both he and Joy died terrible, painful, and senseless deaths.However, their love and devotion to animal preservation and support was so internationally impacted, that many wildlife preservation societies today are a result of their work. Film stars Virgina McKernna and Bill Travers, the real-life British couple (the real life Adamson's were not British) who portrayed the Adamson's in the movie helped establish the Born Free Preservation Society in 1984. Working with the Adamson's on the set of Born Free so moved Virgina and Bill that they continued to work with helping wild animals. Bill did it for the remainder of his life and Virgina is still active in wildlife preservation to this day.Born Free, is a movie, an experience, and a song, that will move you for the rest of your life!

While thoroughly entertaining for audiences of all ages, this mostly accurate true story has the distinction of being one of the most important films ever released. Why you say? Until the publication of the Adamson Born Free trilogy of books (Born Free, Living Free and Forever Free) lions, and most wild animals, were considered in the human consciousness in one way - dangerous. This franchise of books and movies, most especially the widely viewed Born Free film, changed all of that throughout the entire world. The Adamsons, both in real life and as depicted so expertly by real life husband and wife actors Travers and McKenna (who actually spent as much time with their actor lions as the Adamsons had with Elsa and family had) demonstrated that a wild animal, Elsa, could be emotional and full of love for her caretakers. Having personally raised an African lion for more than a decade (not to mention countless other wild animals) I can attest to this being so. But more importantly Born free showed the world this was so. As an impressionable pre-teen when this film was initially released, I can recall the impact it had on all of those my age and their parents as well. That change in attitude continued to grow and the development of insightful studies via National Geo, Discovery Channel, et. al, has assisted mightily in helping protect animals. I'm afraid, without Born Free we would have succeeded in eradicating all free roaming wildlife, thank goodness that at least some remain! While Born Free accomplished this change in mankind's perspective, there are true heroes who have dedicated their lives to protecting animals in whatever manner they may. Perhaps the greatest of these protectors is world renowned Jane Goodall, who has been studying and communicating with the world on wild chimpanzees since the release of Born free in 1960 or so! People fret that the youth have no role models, they are out there folks, and visible, just need to direct these impressionable minds to the right people like Jane Goodall.