Living Free (1972)

Simply Perfect

People are voting emotionally.

How sad is this?

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Born Free was a great family film with both adorable and ferocious animals in the film based on a true story, you would think it wouldn't need a sequel, but one was made. Basically the beginning of the film reminds of the vents from the previous adventure, where naturalist Joy Adamson (Susan Hampshire) and husband George (Nigel Davenport, Jack's father) cared for three lion cubs, letting go two to go to a zoo, but caring for Elsa until big enough to be let loose in the wild. Time has passed, and adult lioness Elsa has found herself a mate and given birth to a bred of three new lion cubs, Jespah, Gopa and Little Elsa. Sadly, Elsa becomes very sick and dies, leaving behind her helpless cubs, so Joy and George take care of them until they too are grown up, which concerns their friend Kendall (James Bond's Geoffrey Keen). The cubs do indeed grow up, but Kendall says that they are in danger of both the poachers, but also they are in a game preserve owned by the not happy Warden Weaver (Edward Judd). After seeing them learn to hunt and kill for themselves, and enjoying their occasional company, Joy and George know that they must take action to ensure the lions are captured and taken away to another wild habitat. Many attempts to catch the three lions in the large cage boxes fail, with the lions fidgeting and not going in, and a near catch going wrong, but they are eventually caught. In the end Jespah, Gopa and Little Elsa are indeed caught just before it's too late, and they are released into their new wild world. Also starring Peter Lukoye as Nuru, Shane De Louvres as Makedde and Robert Beaumont as Billy Collins. I don't know why the fantastic performers Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers declined to be in the sequel, maybe they read the script following almost exactly the same thing all over again. Hampshire and Davenport are alright but not as good, and the lions are still cute, cuddly and ferocious looking, but the title song isn't as memorable as Matt Monro's, and it is just a rehash, but not a completely terrible wildlife adventure. It was nominated the Golden Globe for Best English-Language Foreign Film. Okay!

What a grouch some people can be! You could dislike Gone with the Wind if you set your mind to it. Pay no attention to above grouches. If you would like a touching story of a couple in Africa trying to capture and save 3 lion cubs and move them to safety in the Serengetti then you will enjoy this. Very good for children who will love the cubs. How they managed to shoot these scenes I don't know. Nigel Davenport is at least as good as Bill Travers (who was never likely to be mistaken for Laurence Olivier) and Susan Hampshire is way better than Virginia McKenna who was always an insipid blushing English lily at best.If you like modern Hollywood films then sorry, no rape, gratuitous violence, swearing, sexual perversions or murder. Just a decent movie for decent people. Ho-hum.

The touching and moving sequal to "Born Free". "Living Free" sees the exellent Nigel Davenport as George Adamson and Susan Hampshire as his wife Joy Adamson. After the death of Elsa the Adamsons have to look after her orphaned cubs and when they start wreaking havok on a nearby villiage the Adamsons have little choice but to move them hundreds of miles away to live in peace at a game reserve but catching them prooves to be a big problem. Anybody who has ever seen "Born Free" will realise what a truely touching storey the tale of Elsa is. Based on a true story this sequal to "Born Free" will have you laughing and crying by the end.

After Elsa's death, the Adamson couple have to undertake her cubs.Flabby sequel to "Born Free", unnecessarily verbose and determined to gain all its charm from the cubs, who are not on the screen long enough to maintain interest.