Chances are, regardless of your age, you recognize the music of Born Free. Although John Barry's score for Born Freewon Academy Awards, BAFTAs, Golden Globes and Grammys, not everyone loved it; for instance, the Chicago Reader's Dave Kehr wrote, "John Barry's schmaltzy title song is still haunting the elevators and supermarkets, but [the movie] is really a nicely restrained children's tearjerker that doesn't overdo the anthropomorphism, despite extreme provocation."
No matter what you think of the film, you still hear of it in modern pop-culture references; in the AMC drama Mad Men, for example, the character Peggy Olson skipped work to watch a matinee of Born Free; in the 1975 movie Shampoo, the character Lester sings the title song to himself.
When Born Free opened in 1966, Vincent Canby of The New York Times gushed, "Almost from the opening shot — a vast expanse of corn-colored African plain where lions feed on the carcass of a freshly killed zebra — one knows that Joy Adamson's best-selling book Born Free has been entrusted to honest, intelligent filmmakers."
The film Born Free is based on Adamson's recollection of the time she and her husband, George, spent with the lions on the savannas of Africa — particularly with the lioness Elsa, whose life is depicted in the film Born Free.
The stars of the film, Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers, became animal-rights activists and were instrumental in creating the Born Free Foundation.
The film was one of the most popular films at the British box office in 1966, and it won two Oscars for John Barry, for Best Original Music Score and Best Song.
This week on Flicks in Five, we'll hear that well-known song from Born Free.
Love the music?
Show your support by making a gift to YourClassical.
Each day, we’re here for you with thoughtful streams that set the tone for your day – not to mention the stories and programs that inspire you to new discovery and help you explore the music you love.
YourClassical is available for free, because we are listener-supported public media. Take a moment to make your gift today.
