''Living Free'' is a 1972 British

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

, written by

Millard Kaufman Millard Kaufman (March 12, 1917 – March 14, 2009) was an American screenwriter and novelist. His works include the Academy Award-nominated ''Bad Day at Black Rock'' (1955). He was also one of the creators of Mr. Magoo. Early life Kaufma ...

and directed by

Jack Couffer Jack Craig Couffer A.S.C. (December 7, 1924 – July 30, 2021) was an American cinematographer, film and television director, and author. Couffer has specialized on documentary films, often involving nature and animal cinematography. Couffer was ...

. It is starred by

Nigel Davenport Arthur Nigel Davenport (23 May 1928 – 25 October 2013) was an English stage, television and film actor, best known as the Duke of Norfolk and Lord Birkenhead in the Academy Award-winning films '' A Man for All Seasons'' and '' Chariots of F ...

Susan Hampshire Susan Hampshire, Lady Kulukundis, (born 12 May 1937) is an English actress known for her many television and film roles. A three-time Emmy Award winner, she won for '' The Forsyte Saga'' in 1970, ''The First Churchills'' in 1969, and for ''Vani ...

and

Geoffrey Keen Geoffrey Keen (21 August 1916 – 3 November 2005) was an English actor who appeared in supporting roles in many films. He is well known for playing British Defence Minister Sir Frederick Gray in the ''James Bond'' films. Biography Early lif ...

. This film is a sequel to ''

Born Free ''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 in ...

'' (1966), which was based on the 1960 book of the same name by

Joy Adamson Friederike Victoria "Joy" Adamson ( Gessner; 20 January 1910 – 3 January 1980) was a naturalist, artist and author. Her book, ''Born Free'', describes her experiences raising a lion cub named Elsa. ''Born Free'' was printed in several langua ...

. The film ''Living Free'' is also based on a book by Joy Adamson; however, it is not based on the book of the same name but is instead based on the third book in the series, ''Forever Free''. Singer

Julie Budd Julie Budd (born May 7, 1954) is an American recording artist and actress. Early life and education Budd was born Edith Erdman in Brooklyn, New York, the second of three daughters of Joan and Saul Erdman, a bottling company executive. She att ...

sang the title song, composed by Sol Kaplan and Freddy Douglass.

Plot

After Elsa the

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus '' Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adu ...

ess dies, her three

lion cub The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult ...

s (Jespah, Gopa and Little Elsa) are forced to move to a

game preserve Game preservation is maintaining a stock of game to be hunted legally. It includes: *Preventing poaching *Preventing losses due to attack by predators. *Encouraging breeding, and sometimes captive breeding for release. Britain Until hand-held gu ...

and must learn to hunt on their own with the help of

George Adamson George Alexander Graham Adamson MBE (3 February 1906 – 20 August 1989), also known as the ''Baba ya Simba'' ("Father of Lions" in Swahili), was a Kenyan wildlife conservationist and author. He and his wife, Joy, were depicted in the film '' ...

and his wife,

Joy The word joy refers to the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune, and is typically associated with feelings of intense, long lasting happiness. Dictionary definitions Dictionary definitions of joy typically include a sense of ...

Cast

as George Adamson *

as Joy Adamson *

as Kendall *

Peter Lukoye Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

as Nuru *

Shane De Louvre Shane may refer to: People * Shane (actress) (born 1969), American pornographic actress * Shane (New Zealand singer) (born 1946) * iamnotshane (born 1995), formerly known as Shane, American singer * Shane (name), a masculine given name and a sur ...

as Makedde * Robert Beaumont as Billy Collins *

Nobby Noble {{Unreferenced, date=December 2009 Nobby is the diminutive form of the name Norbert. It is also a nickname most commonly used in English for those with the surname Clark or Clarke. Origins as a nickname A number of possible explanations exist fo ...

as Bank Manager * Allaudin Qureshi as Bank Clerk * Charles Hayes as Herbert Baker *

Jean Hayes Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jea ...

as Mrs. Herbert Baker *

Edward Judd Edward Judd (4 October 1932 – 24 February 2009) was a British actor. Biography Born in Shanghai, he and his English father and Russian mother fled when the Japanese attacked China five years later. His career was at its peak in the 1960s ...

as Weaver

Reception

The film was nominated for one

Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

for Best English-Language Foreign Film. Howard Thompson from ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote: "'Born Free' history is repeating itself and the freshness and novelty wear thin. Still, these are enterprising, well-meaning adults, the animals—all of them — and the exotic scenery are diverting and the picture is clean as a lion's tooth, not that we've ever crawled up close for a look. "Living Free" is close enough to sensible entertainment for the children — and bright ones, too." Andy Webb from The Movie Scene gave the film two out of five stars and stated: "What this all boils down to is that "Living Free" whilst still an entertaining movie is not a patch on "Born Free". From the change in actors, through to the overlong recap and natural history lesson it just doesn't feel right. And whilst the storyline itself relays some of the emotion of Joy and George's battle to protect Elsa's legacy the connection to the emotion never really comes across from the acting or the way the movie is directed.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0068866 1972 films 1972 drama films Films directed by Jack Couffer British drama films Columbia Pictures films Films scored by Sol Kaplan 1970s English-language films 1970s British films