Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.5

Born Free Blu-ray Movie Review

You're probably humming the theme song already.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 22, 2015

Would there have been success for Born Free (the film) without “Born Free” (the song)? It’s a question that’s addressed, if not outright answered, in the commentary included on this new Blu-ray, and it’s a salient one, for the film is a kind of odd mishmash that is rather unusual in a number of different ways. Most people, including those who have never even seen Born Free, know it details a real life story involving an orphaned lion cub named Elsa who is raised by a Kenyan game warden named George Adamson (played by Bill Travers in the film) and his wife Joy (played by Travers’ real life wife Virginia McKenna). Elsa (along with her siblings, who are ultimately gifted to a zoo) is raised as something in between the family pet and an actual surrogate child, and there’s an indelible bond that forms between the Adamsons and the apparently sweet if occasionally feral feline. But when Elsa’s atavastic urges begin to make her more unpredictable, even threatening, the Adamsons are forced to confront an issue which really hadn’t been addressed in any meaningful way in a film story before: how to reintegrate a supposedly tame lion back into the wild, where she can hopefully prosper in her natural environment? Is it possible to “reignite” some kind of instinctual behaviors which raising Elsa with humans had apparently mitigated? It’s really a fascinating concept, and one which Born Free addresses with little artificial drama or histrionics. Add to that the kind of quasi-verité approach that director James Hill brought to the project, and the finished film was hardly screaming “box office blockbuster” when it unspooled around the globe throughout the spring and summer of 1966. But Born Free had an inherent marketing tool that probably did more to advertise the film than its trailers and/or newsprint advertisements did together—namely, the soaring John Barry score and that inimitable theme song. Those who have seen the film probably associate the Oscar winning song with British vocalist Matt Monro, who croons it in the film, but perhaps surprisingly his version never charted on the main Hot 100 Billboard listing in the United States, and in fact only rose to a relatively paltry 35 on the Adult Contemporary (or, as it was called then, Easy Listening) chart. It was actually pianist Roger Williams’ version, which offered both an instrumental and vocal verse in its somewhat hyperbolic arrangement, which cracked the Top 10 on the Hot 100 and ultimately made it to the very top spot on the Adult Contemporary chart. The mid-sixties were still a time when “cover” versions of tunes were all the rage, and there were several other top pop artists who performed their own renditions of the tune, including such heavyweights as Percy Faith, Andy Williams and even Old Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra. In fact if you were listening to AM radio back in the day, chances are “Born Free” was inescapable in at least one of its many versions. (Interestingly, the only other Top 100 chart performance of the tune was in 1968 by The Hesitations, a quasi-soul R&B outfit from Ohio which offered a kind of gospel tinged rendition.)

While many of Born Free’s “real life” and “staged” elements are woven together rather organically, unfortunately one of the first moments seems overly artificial with some clunky framing and editing, as a “man eating lion” checks out some natives doing their laundry, waiting for one hapless woman to be left alone and defenseless. This being a mid-sixties outing that was ostensibly family friendly, the resulting carnage isn’t explicitly displayed, but the overly theatrical staging of the event is at distinct odds with the way Hill manages much of the rest of the story.

George is part of the team tasked with tracking down and killing the beast, but the upshot is that there is a trio of cubs left orphaned, which sets up the charming first part of the story, as the Adamsons “foster parent” the little cats. There are a number of rather touching scenes here, including Joy bottle feeding the “infants,” something that capably establishes an emotional baseline which pays off in spades down the line.

Part of Born Free’s relatively unusual structure is how there’s really no central conflict of any major import for much of the film’s initial setup. Instead, the maturation of Elsa is detailed through a series of sometimes amusing vignettes. It’s only after an unexpected tragedy that it becomes clear Elsa cannot remain with the Adamsons, and it’s at this somewhat late point that the film really starts to build suspense and even pay even further emotional dividends. McKenna offers an expertly emphatic take on Joy’s deep emotions about at least attempting to reintroduce Elsa into the wild rather than shipping her off to a zoo, and while Born Free is ostensibly the story of Elsa’s reintegration into her natural habitat, there’s no denying that it’s largely Joy’s story from a purely emotional standpoint.

The film manages to deliver several elements of a travelogue and even an environmental appeal, and in that regard it’s kind of interesting to contrast it with the at least somewhat similar Roar. What’s so moving about Born Free is not just how prescient it was (coming out a full fifteen years before the Noel Marshall — Tippi Hedren opus), but also how unpretentious it was in presenting a rather provocative thesis. There’s rarely been a film as heartfelt as Born Free, and helping it to achieve that emotional resonance from its first moment to its last is the soaring score of John Barry.

Born Free Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Born Free is presented on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Reportedly sourced from a new 4K restoration and scan supervised by the typically unimpeachable folks at Sony-Columbia, this high definition presentation is commendably organic looking. Considering how scenic much of Born Free is, it's not a particularly "beautiful" film, at least in terms of a glossy patina that emphasizes production values. Born Free has always had a somewhat grittier ambience, and that comes through convincingly on the Blu-ray. Some may need to take a brief deep breath during the optically printed opening credits sequence, which looks fairly rough, but once the actual film begins, there's a distinct uptick in clarity, sharpness and saturation, as well as resolution of the grain field. There are still occasional "baked in" issues, most having to do with what I assume were different sources at the time of the original filming, mostly to do with the "real life" nature photography. Some of these moments have a noticeably rougher look with more pronounced grain than the bulk of the presentation (see screenshots 16 and 17). Colors are not overly vivid, though look accurate. Depth of field is exceptional in several wide views of the expansive Kenyan countryside.

Born Free Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Born Free features a DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track which may not provide a lot of width, but which is suitably deep, offering a nicely resonant accounting of especially some of the brass orchestrations at play in Barry's scoring. Dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly, and the film's evocative sound design offering a wealth of ambient environmental sounds is also rendered without any problems whatsoever.

Born Free Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Isolated Score Track is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0.


• Audio Commentary features Barry biographer and all around music maven Jon Burlingame hosted by Twilight Time's Julie Kirgo and Nick Redman.


• Trailer (1080p; 3:22). Note how Barry's iconic theme doesn't really make an entrance until relatively late here, an indication perhaps that no one realized what an impact it was going to have on the public.


• Teaser (1080p; 1:00)

Born Free Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Anyone wondering if they still have the milk of human kindness running through their veins could do worse than to watch Born Free and see how big the lump in their throat is by the end of the film. This is an incredibly distinctive film that packs an unusually powerful emotional wallop. The fact that it manages to also deliver an important message seems almost like an unintended consequence at times, but only adds to the film's largely impeccable luster. This new Blu-ray offers great looking video and nice sounding audio and comes Highly recommended.