The Adamsons return to England, yet a year later journey back to Kenya for a week, hoping to find Elsa. After many setbacks, Joy at last succeeds, and with trepidation, and a breaking heart, releases Elsa to the wild. Joy resolves to not allow Elsa to suffer a caged life in captivity, and so commits to re-introducing Elsa to her destiny – a wild and free lion in the reserve. Regretfully tragedy strikes when a playful Elsa is held responsible for causing an elephant stampede, which wreaks havoc with a local village, John Kendall, Adamson’s boss gives the couple a three-month ultimatum restore Elsa to the wild, or send her to a zoo. They however retain Elsa (the runt of the litter), with whom Joy has bonded emotionally. The Adamsons nuture the three cubs to young lionhood, and then send the two eldest of the siblings to the Rotterdam Zoo. He then discovers the reason for her attack, her three cubs, and so decides to bring them home with him, understanding that they would not survive in the wild without their mother. It comes to pass that one day during his rounds he is cornered and forced to kill a lioness out of self-defense. The story is set in northern Kenya where George Adamson serves as senior Game Warden for the expansive regional park. For the cast, Director James Hill brought in veteran British actors Virginia McKenna (Joy Adamson) and Bill Travers (George Adamson) to lead an ensemble, which included Geoffrey Keen (John Kendall), Peter Lukoye (Nuru), Surya Patel (the Doctor) and Geoffrey Best as (Watson). They purchased the film rights and hired screenwriter Lester Cole to forge the screenplay. Producers Carl Forman, Sam Jaffe and Paul Radin came across the book “Born Free: A Lioness of Two Worlds” (1960) by renowned naturalist Joy Adamson, and believed her heart-warming tale could be brought to the big screen.

Born Free by Joy Adamson