Born Free

Born Free
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	James Hill
Screenplay by	Gerald L.C. Copley
Based on	Born Free by Joy Adamson
Produced by	Sam Jaffe Paul Radin
Starring	Virginia McKenna Bill Travers
Cinematography	Kenneth Talbot
Edited by	Don Deacon
Music by	John Barry
Production company	Shepperton Studios
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release dates	14 March 1966 (1966-03-14) (UK) (Royal Film Performance) 22 June 1966 (1966-06-22) (US)
Running time	95 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	$2 million[1]
Box office	$3.6 million (est. US/ Canada rentals)[2]

Born Free is a 1966 British drama film starring the real-life couple Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers as Joy and George Adamson, another 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, as well as the title song, with lyrics by Don Black and sung by Matt Monro, won numerous awards.