Hannibal Brooks (1969) Online

I stumbled on this movie on a Sunday afternoon and, having nothing better to do, sat down to watch. I wasn't expecting much--director Michael Winner doesn't have the strongest reputation--but this was a very well-done film. It has that 60s anti-establishment tone, though Oliver Reed's character is more indifferent to war than an outright rebel. When he is captured, Reed's character, Hannibal Brooks, volunteers to work at the Munich zoo and becomes the caretaker for the zoo's elephant, Lucy. When the German caretaker is killed in a bombing raid, Brooks is put in charge and directed to take the elephant to safety in Ausria. What follows is a series of largely comic misadventures, though the film does develop a serious tone as it goes on. Unable to take the elephant by train, Brooks sets off on foot, accompanied by two German guards and a female cook.

There is some great German scenery in the film as Brooks and company make their way into the high country. Following the accidental death of one of the guards, plans change and the remaining trio make their way to Switzerland. There's a rogueish American escapee, played by Michael J. Pollard, who keeps crossing paths with Brooks, as well as a German officer, played by Wolfgang Preiss, whose path crosses Brooks' as well. Rather reluctantly, Brooks becomes something of a hero, though he's motivated more by his desire to keep Lucy safe than by anything else. A very enjoyable movie that I wouldn't mind seeing again some time.

A breezy, light-hearted and, dare I say, humorous World War II movie very much reflecting the sensibilities of the late 60's. Oliver Reed is Lance Corporal Brooks, the perfect antihero with very little respect for authority, even when the authority is SS Colonel von Haller played with a certain roguish charm by Wolfgang Preiss. As a captured British soldier, Brooks willingly volunteers to work in the Munich Zoo where he becomes the caretaker for an elephant named Lucy. The zoo is bombed and he is charged with taking Lucy to safety. Thwarted by von Haller in his attempt to get her there by rail, Brooks and his escort (two guards and a female cook) undertake the journey on foot. Circumstances arise that lead to the decision to attempt an escape over the Alps to Switzerland, and because Brooks has grown so attached to her, leaving Lucy behind is not an option. As you can imagine, trying to escape Nazi Germany with an elephant in tow makes for some interesting situations.

This is not high art, but the story is good, and there's a nice little twist, too. The cast is universally good and you can tell the actors are having a good time. Joining Reed and Preiss is an elfin Michael J. Pollard as a fellow POW turned goofy guerilla. Peter Carsten and Helmut Lohner are Brooks' German guards and Karin Baal is the cook who, with a very 60's sensibility, explains to Brooks why she made what might not have been such an obvious choice in the 1940's.

All in all Hannibal Brooks is a highly entertaining film. If only this movie were on DVD, or even video for that matter.

What can you say about a war movie where an elephant crosses the Alps? It's silly but a heck of a lot of fun. The scenery is gorgeous, the acting is light and the action sequences are top notch. Oliver Reed is perfectly cast as our hero Brooks. He has played so many villain roles that it's great to see him play a nice guy for a change. The beautiful Austrian scenery steals the show. Somehow every time we see a breathtaking view of the mountains, we forget we're watching a war movie. The war is shown in a very comedic way(especially all of Michael J. Pollard's scenes, which are priceless) and this works to some extent. The comedy never goes overboard (a fine balance is kept throughout the film). A good example of this is the final action sequence at the border crossing which is exciting and well played with a nice dash of humour thrown in. At many times we are required to check our disbelief at the door but this is such a good natured movie that we don't really care.We root for our heroes to make it to safety, all the way to the end, without ever really wondering if they will make it, but that's part of the film's charm. Overall a great movie to see on a cold winter day.

That got your attention, didn't it? The words "Michael Winner" and "Orson Welles" in the same sentence. And I don't just mean because of their fondness for wine and good food. No, the fact is, that like, Orson Welles, Michael Winner made all his best films at the start of his career ("The Jokers", "The Games" and this film). After the first "Death Wish", he was starting to go downhill professionally (although "A Chorus of Disapproval" was not bad). If you see any of his most recent films, you'll find it hard to believe that this was the same man that made such a class act as "Hannibal Brooks" back in 1968. In fact, his films don't get released any more, they escape. "Dirty Weekend" is a case in point, executed so crassly and seemingly assembled by some clueless chimp who has no idea about film-making.

Anyway, back to "Hannibal Brooks" and the days when Winner made films for the family that didn't involve women being raped and tortured. The story of a British P.O.W. in 1944 helping to lead an elephant over the Alps to freedom in Switzerland was devised by Winner and former P.O.W. Tom Wright and blessed by a great script full of quotable lines by "Likely Lads" Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. Reed is great, although the film is stolen by Michael J. Pollard, who has never been better than he is in this film. With great picture postcard photography of Austria (by Robert Paynter) and a terrific score by "Love Story" composer Francis Lai, this is great entertainment and deserves a DVD release now.

As war films go, this one stands alone as the daftest concept I have come across. However, as light entertainment, it has all the mix of goodies and baddies, superheroes, tragedy and comedy. The 'we're here' line never fails to bring a smile to my face. One can excuse the acting [which is a tad wooden and stilted at times] and settle back to enjoy a traditional good yarn. The music, I believe by Francis Lai, remains one of my favourite film scores and superbly compliments the film throughout. To summarise, take time out to watch this film and I'm sure you wont feel time was wasted.

They simply do not make films like this any longer. Anyone who is reading this probably already knows what the film is essentially about. This particular movie has a truly timeless quality about, and all the various plot twists and surprises never leave the viewer at all bored. Michael J. Pollard and Oliver Reed work very well together on screen, and it is too bad that this is the only film the two them made with one another.

Try your best to locate this film, as it is frequently listed. Again, this movie is great fun and is worth repeated viewings!

This really is a different kind of war film,and probably one of the best for family viewing,as a kid i watched this film every time it was on TV its memorable because it is so different.It is also one of the first films that was made that got us to support elephants against the unnecessary tusk trade as the terrible slaughter was at its height.In reality Ollie Reed was a bit frightened of the elephant as it wasn't a particularly friendly one he didn't like turning his back on her,i take it he was sober?Another good point about this film is that it doesn't portray the Germans as one dimensional characters,you have a mixture of good and bad, British films have always tried to do this its a shame that a lot of modern film makers from other parts of the world cant follow this example they should set out to entertain not offend.People shouldn't get off on seeing other races ridiculed,this shouldn't happen in modern cinema The Patriot is one example,and there's a lot more like that.Back to the film ,theres a lot to like about it, its entertaining well acted and has an exciting climax and eventually a happy ending.This was Ollies most likable role its a shame he didn't play more parts like this rather than the hardened villain types.But i think after this film his drinking got heavier,which ruined his looks his weight ballooned,and eventually his acting career went fastly down hill,he showed so much promise in the early part of his career.This is a good film to see him in his hey day when he was at the height of his popularity,wasted talent?Also Micheal J Pollard is really funny in this film.

Yes, this film is nuts.

(WARNING BASIC PLOT OVERVIEW FOLLOWS:)

So let me get this straight, Oliver Reed is a Prisoner Of War, captured and contained by the Germans as the Second World War draws to a close. The German army , (being unusually considerate in this film) give him the job of mucking out the Elephant quarters in the nearby Zoo.

But when the allies bomb the Zoo during a raid, our hero goes on the run for the Swiss border and freedom... with... an Elephant.

It sounds bad, but actually, this is one of my favourite films. (In the UK at least) you will find that a year does not go by without this film being shown on terrestrial TV. This is how I saw it as a child and thought it was great. It is a strange film, difficult to see what market it was aimed at. It has Oliver Reed and Michael J Pollard in absurdly comic mode, playing the fool(s) in the midst of war. The audience tends to be spared the horrors of combat in favour of slapstick violence. (and this in a film by Michael "Death Wish" Winner !)

(Spoiler follows) In one seen (depicted on the US poster for the film) a group of German soldiers are quite casually dispatched when Hannibal, (Reed) makes his travelling companion, (Elephant) roll some freshly chopped timber down a hill and over them.

So if you are prepared for a little adventure with a big heart and it's tongue firmly placed in it's cheek, Give Hannibal Brooks a go. You might just like it. (But you might have a hard time finding it on video or DVD !)

You've already read the plot, where an English POW risks his life to conduct a bombed-out zoo elephant, Lisa, from Germany to a safe haven in Switzerland during World War II. Despite the doubts that plot line might suggest, this is a great movie that held my attention the whole way through. An excellent cast gives life to a wide range of characters; and you really do come to understand their actions and care about them.

Oliver Reed, as "Hannibal" Brooks, brings a light touch and a wry sense of humor to this role that blends both comedy and drama. It pays to listen closely to the by-play between Brooks and his fellow POWs and the zoo staff, and German soldiers he encounters - there's some really funny stuff here. However, as a war film, it's not all comedy - there are fighting sequences and the film includes some spectacular explosions and pyrotechnics.

One thing I liked about the movie is that it portrays the decency of common people; the ordinary people they met along the way who took time to be caring and kind -- in contrast to the horrors of war all around them.

Michael J. Pollard, as Packy, an American POW who has ambitions of military glory, is kind of strange. But, then Michael J. Pollard is always strange, so I guess that's what they wanted for his role. I would have preferred to see it played "straight", but I think the strangeness works in this movie anyway.

This is a very enjoyable movie - I hope it gets wider distribution on video/DVD so that more people can enjoy it.

I accidentally came across this gem of a movie on about October 18th 2000. I was fresh back from a month long trip to Germany and was still suffering from jet-lag. I awoke early and turned on the TV - switching channels when I came across this movie - already about half over.

What struck me about this movie as I started to watch it was, the beautiful scenery where it was shot on location. The scene I happened to remember first seeing was one in which Brooks was shown breaking into a closed for the war, hotel of some kind. In this hotel were various paintings and posters having to do with WWII. At first I thought it was some kind of neo-nazi flick and was about to turn the station when I recognized the building that Brooks was in.

I was floored when I recognized it as one I had stayed in during my trip to Germany. My interest was piqued and I was hooked to the film. Brooks was relaxing on a bed when he heard a noise from outside and saw a Kubelwagon approaching the building in which he was hiding in. Brooks observed 2 or so German soldiers walk up to the building realizing that something was not as it should be.

Fast-thinking on Brooks part as he faked being drunk on wine as the German soldiers made their way to where he was. Brooks wound up escaping the custody of these soldiers by tricking them into going into the wine celler and he locked them into it. Brooks managed to grab a key to the German's vehicle and drove away as the escaped soldiers fired at him.

Brooks is seen driving out of sight around a small hill and quickly became the unwitting target of Packy and his little group of followers. (Later on when I did get the chance to watch the film in its entirety, it answered all the questions I had from watching the last half) It turns out that Brooks was trying his best to stay away from Packy and his bunch.

Anyway, Brooks finds and gets Lucy (the Elephant) and wants to leave but, Lucy gets away and Brooks wants to go get her as Packy and his bunch try to set up an ambush on an approaching German convoy.

There are various interactions between Brooks, Packy and Colonel von Holler throughout the movie. The movie in my opinion was well made with a good to great cast as well as filmed in several locations in which I had just come back from visiting. There is no slow boring moments in this film and your attention is always held.

Nuff said on this except that I hope and pray that this movie will eventually be released on DVD.

The idea of a film telling the story of a POW taking an elephant across the Alps is ridiculous but guess what? It works. Good actors, fantastic scenery, action and fun,what else do you need? Well worth watching.

Oliver Reed gives one of his usually visceral turns in this wartime comedy thriller by - of all people - Michael Winner.

A British soldier captured by the Germans; he is put to work at the zoo where he soon develops a bond with Lucy the solitary female elephant. During an air-raid, the zoo is destroyed, and he is tasked with the animal's evacuation supervised by two German soldiers. One is inevitably harsh and mean-spirited, the other bookish and kindly. At a crisis, the kindly one kills the other and is persuaded to help Brooks take the animal to Switzerland. Along the way, they have adventures.

At the same time, a German officer played by Wolfgang Preiss, with a venal dislike and sneaking respect for Brooks, endeavours to procure his recapture.

Also at the same time, a group of partisans led by fellow escapees (leader played by Pollard) are busily engaged in sundry sabotage.

The emphasis is more upon humour than war or tragedy, resembling that other great wartime comedy 'Kelly's Heroes'. But what makes this movie so compelling is the emphasis upon cultural collateral. No other movie (so far as I'm aware) spares a thought for the plight of the other species we lock up in prisons, or the loss of cultural assets. They're almost exclusively centred upon humans and human suffering.

Reed, Pollard, Preiss, Lohner et al, each give creditable performances, as indeed does the elephant itself. Filming - quite evidently on location - is expansive with quite wonderful vistas of alpine landscape, allowing personalities to expand alike. I am reminded of the professor picking flowers in the equally vintaged 'Italian Job' - 'Pity people aren't more like flowers.' War-effects are solidly recreated and grim. There are plenty of good humorous moments. Most are predictable, but fun all the same. A pleasant, romantic theme music matches the elephant's languid pace.

Those who criticise and down-score this movie because of its almost perfect ending are completely missing the point. It's a feelgood movie set in the war - and what's wrong with that? Would you have the elephant killed for greater authenticity? Maybe deprive Kelly and his heroes of their bullion? Perhaps the Von Trapp family should have been machine-gunned on the threshold of escape. Near miracles do happen in wars; I see no reason why a movie shouldn't depict one.

This is a 'complete' work. Everything meshes. It's one of the few genuinely creative efforts from Michael Winner. Although it reflects its age in every way that's no criticism. Let the warmongers and realists soak up the blood and guts of 'Private Ryan's' beach-landing. Those who prefer a little light relief sometimes should enjoy 'Hannibal Brooks' immensely.

Very interesting story concept. It's worth watching for that novelty alone, however, thankfully, there are other reasons. Some decent action, comedy, and even some well performed and interesting characters exist in this slightly off beat film. If you can suspend you're disbelief enough to accept that an elephant can traipse about a countryside with little to no food for it to eat, then you should be able to enjoy Hannibal Brooks.

6 of 10 stars

Well worth watching! Escaping from Germany to Switzerland with an elephant, Hannibal Brooks embarks on an action-packed adventure that will keep your attention, and provide some laughs along the way.

Before British director Michael Winner made his world-famous or infamous Charles Bronson revenge thriller "Death Wish," he made a most unusual World War II movie. Imagine a British P.O.W., played by Oliver Reed, escaping to Switzerland with an Indian elephant that he has been ordered to evacuate from a German zoo and you've got the basic plot of "Hannibal Brooks." In his autobiography "Winner Take All," Winner remembers that Aida, the elephant, had to be accompanied by another elephant, each of them tipping the scales at two and half tons! Between the elephant, the rowdy Reed, and drug-addled Michael J. Pollard, Winner wound up helming the usual firefights between the Germans and the escaped prisoners-of-war that make up this slightly overlong war movie. Winner stages a convoy ambush, a train derailment, avalanches of logs and stones, and ultimately the destruction of a massive border guard post with verve. Although it doesn't qualify as a really big World War II epic like director J. Lee Thompson's "The Guns of Navarone" or Brian G. Hutton's "Where Eagles Dare," "Hannibal Brooks" is still above-average because it is so unlike all other World War II movies.

Patriotism doesn't clap its heels together and storm to the front of the action. Indeed, James Donald of "The Great Escape" where he portrayed the Allied P.O.W. Commandant has the only role in "Hannibal Brooks" that vocalizes patriotism. Meanwhile, the Germans—especially the S.S.—aren't demonized. Appropriately enough, Winner relied on Pollard—fresh from his Oscar nominated role in "Bonnie & Clyde"—to serve as comic relief, and Pollard easily steals the show from Reed and his gigantic co-star. French composer Francis Lai furnishes a majestic orchestral score that sounds like something the 101 Strings would have no problem immortalizing. Nevertheless, like the pachyderm, "Hannibal Brooks" amounts to a slow-moving melodrama which makes it easy to pause it and walk off for a while to attend to other necessities. There is no burning urgency, but the film dutifully arrives at its grand finale.

The Germans captured Stephen 'Hannibal' Brooks (Oliver Reed of "The Three Musketeers") in the beginning after he has repaired a vehicle and they shoot it the tires out, taking him prisoner. Cue the Francis Lai music and lenser Robert Paynter, who worked with Winner on most of his pictures, regales us with scenic long shots of Germany as a period train trundles through it. During the train ride, British enlisted man Brooks meets American enlisted man Packy (Michael J. Pollard of "Bonnie & Clyde") and persuades him to serve as their look-out while they try to loosen some planks in the ceiling of a train. The escape attempt is short-lived, but for the remainder of this 101-minute actioneer, Packy and Brooks cross paths at the best and worst times. Once they have been settled into Stalag 7-A, our heroes learn that the Germans are looking for men to work for them in the nearby town of Munich. The vicar (James Donald of "The Great Escape") suggests they pass up this opportunity because they are still on the British Army payroll, but Brooks takes the Germans up on their offer and finds himself tending an elephant named Lucy (Aida in her only starring role) when he isn't in camp.

Packy manages to escape when the Allies drop bombs on the zoo. Brooks refuses to abandon Lucy. A piece of shapnel lodges in her side, but our hero nurses her back to health. The bombing killed the German elephant so Lucy is entrusted entirely to Brooks. Indeed, the zoo curator arranges for Brooks—under guard of course—to take Lucy to Innsbruck and so the journey of hardship begins for both man and beast. Kurt, the German soldier (Peter Carsten of "Dark of the Sun") who supervises their trip, rubs Brooks raw and neither man has respect for the other. Eventually, Brooks can longer abide Kurt, and they tangle in the middle of the woods when Kurt makes a foolish move to shoot Lucy. The second time that they trade blows, Kurt falls down a hillside and the woman, Vronia (Karin Baal of "Dead Eyes of London"), who accompanies them discovers that he is dead. Brooks decides to make a dash for Switzerland. Vronia and a sympathetic German guard, Willy (Teutonic actor Helmut Lohner), go their different ways. The closest character to being a villain—other than the drunken Kurt—is German Colonel von Haller. One of the most recognized German character actors to play officers in World War II movies for 30 years—Wolfgang Priess—is instantly credible and twice as villainous. Initially, he forces Lucy, Brooks, and Kurt vacate a train freight car that was assigned to accommodate them during their trip to a quiet part of Germany that Allied bombers wouldn't devastate. Later, when they are crossing a narrow bridge, our heroes encounter the unsavory von Haller again. This time Brooks doesn't capitulate to von Haller. He explains to the colonel while Kurt stands by impotently that you cannot turn an elephant around on a narrow bridge and that Lucy cannot walk backwards.

"Hannibal Brooks" won't top anybody's list of memorable World War II movies. This is war as an adventure with few opportunities to cast combat in an unglamorous look. Nevertheless, Winner does make war seem ironic. After they knock over an eight truck German convoy, Packy discovers the Jerries were carrying cans of bully beef. This color picture is still entertaining and most of all different compared to most combat movies. Winner recounts in his autobiography that he collaborated on the script treatment of "Hannibal Brooks" with a Norwich house painter who tended an elephant in Munich during the war.

How can you not love this film? I have grown up watching this film, and grown up using the phrase 'we're here' instead of elephant! lots of laughs are involved in watching this film, except from went he zoo is bombed :( all good films from this decade end with a happy ending, like this one! Just wish i could find it on DVD so i could watch it an endless amount of times. You can't get bored of a film this brilliantly bizarre! I love it! You should too! This film is the film that made me want a zoo when i was little, and to have lots of 'we're here's! Before i watched this film i didn't know quite how useful and elephant could be at freeing prisoners from wars, i'll remember this if i ever join the army!

Sadly they do not make films of this type today. an innocent film (if a film about war can be that), and very funny in places which also does not surprisingly, conflict with the film's war content.

I have seen this brilliant 'British' film only twice and narrowly missed seeing (and recording)it for the third time recently. As it doesn't seem to be shown on TV (as often as the Great Escape anyway), I tried to buy a DVD instead. I was therefore completely surprised and frustrated to find it isn't listed as available anywhere, as far as I could see.

Mr Winner, if you ever read this, please, please, please, make arrangements for this excellent film to be made available (again?) with possibly,dare I suggest, a Director's commentary, and comments from some of the (sadly few) remaining actors.

Michael J. Pollard does, to an extent, spoil every scene he is in.

I think that the main problem that Oliver Reed is one of the finest actors of the past thirty years - all brooding menace and power bubbling under the surface. Considering his role as Bill Sykes (the ultimate depiction of a vicious character), he is quite believable here.

However Pollard hams up his role and plays it like a smacked up hippy. I can't imagine that the French Resistance fighters would have followed him for an instance, and I am sorry to say he is badly miscast here.

The film is also, to an extent, a little derivative, with some pretty shoddy direction. It does have some superb cinematography which helps balance this out, but to be honest its a film to watch on December 27th when you have had your fill of Christmas cheer and just fancy something light.

Before he became obsessed with violent thrillers like Death Wish and vulgar costumers like The Wicked Lady, director Michael Winner made a reputation for himself making quaint family movies. His early directorial efforts are littered with light-hearted films like Play It Cool, The System, and You Must Be Joking. The transition probably began in 1969 with Hannibal Brooks, for in this film Winner veers erratically between cute family-orientated escapades and modestly violent wartime action. The switches in mood and style are somewhat jarring - one moment we are cooing at the delightful elephant around which the story is based, the next we witness a German soldier plunging to his death from a cable car.... similarly we are meant to feel tension when those darned Nazis are on-screen, but the evil that is Nazism is absurdly counterbalanced by the presence of the comical supporting character played by Michael J Pollard. Hannibal Brooks is desperately uneven, and is one of the most oddball films ever made, but something about it is endearingly likable.

Prisoner-of-war Stephen Brooks (Oliver Reed) is assigned to work in a Munich zoo, where he becomes the keeper of a huge, friendly elephant named Lucy. During a heavy bombing raid on Munich, Brooks escapes from the zoo but decides, absurdly, to take his new elephant friend with him (!) Brooks' plan is to follow in the footsteps of the famous Carthiginian general Hannibal who, if you know your history, led his soldiers and elephants over the Alps in battle. Brooks guides Lucy into the Alps intending to find his way to the Swiss border, where freedom and neutrality await. Along the way, Brooks frequently runs into an American saboteur named Packy (Michael J Pollard) who, with his team of misfits, spends most of his time being a thorn in the side of the Germans. Progressing through the German countryside with an elephant in tow proves no easy task, but eventually Brooks and Lucy close in on the Swiss frontier. Occasionally, Lucy proves herself to be a useful creature to have along, such as in the scene where her brute strength is used to dislodge a German checkpoint from a hillside.

Hannibal Brooks is as implausible as it is inoffensive. The backdrop is beautiful, and Robert Paynter captures the Alpine landscapes in wonderful DeLuxe colour. Oliver Reed gives a superb performance, holding together the potentially ridiculous story with infectious enthusiasm, and proving the old saying that actors should never work with children or animals is not always true. He has an on-screen chemistry with his elephant co-star that is surprisingly heart-warming (Reed really does seem to have some kind of rapport with the pachyderm, which helps to add some believability to an otherwise unbelievable scenario). Like I pointed out earlier, the film veers dramatically between cuteness and cruelty, action and comedy, and is consequently so uneven that it doesn't really gel. Pollard's eccentric performance as the saboteur Packy is also distracting for the wrong reasons, pulling the film down a further notch or two. But in all honesty, Hannibal Brooks still emerges a strangely likable misfire, and is a film that always goes down nicely on a rainy afternoon when there's nothing better to do.

WWII story with a light touch has Hannibal Brooks, a British POW in Germany, volunteering to care for one of the zoo animals left vulnerable by the bombing; he's assigned Lucy, an Asian elephant. After the zoo is destroyed by fire, Brooks, a female cook and two German soldiers are instructed to accompany Lucy across the Swiss border--a journey which will also provide crafty Brooks with the opportunity to escape. Something different from director Michael Winner, known at that time for his 'mod' British dramas (although the colorful stories told about Winner during production show that the filmmaker had not misplaced his bad boy persona). The screenplay by Ian La Frenais and Dick Clement, based on a story by Winner and Tom Wright, has some basis in fact, and yet it's a very patchy film. The cinematography and scoring are lovely, and Oliver Reed as Brooks gives a charmingly unforced performance, but the third act with American escapee Michael J. Pollard helping Reed defeat the Nazis is wearing. Pollard was riding high on the success of "Bonnie and Clyde" two years before, but he's clearly not the star here, nor is Reed. It takes a delightful pachyderm to upstage these wily men, not to mention the entire German army. ** from ****

Wonderful film, very much about the sane man confronting the insanity of war. Beautiful photography in the palette of the 60's ww2 films, rich greens, browns, blues. A film about travel, meeting different characters, each representing different aspects of human nature. Reed is completely out of character, yet completely convincing. However. However. What is up with the polish girl, who is a totally sympathetic character, machine gunned, at the end? And Brooks, etc all, blithely crossing the Swiss border, without a moments reflection on the beautiful corpse they left behind? Why could not the screenwriter allowed her to live, explain the practical necessity of her betrayal, and stay with brooks?

Michael J. Pollard made this movie fun. For me this was his best role. A very interesting take on the second world war. From start to finish it held my interest. Lots of action and a little drama and romance thrown in. I haven't seen many movies with Oliver Reed, but I will be keeping eye out for other films he was involved in. He did a good job in this movie. I can recommend this movie for WW2 movie buffs. You will enjoy it.

.... "And they all lived happily after..." claims the closing caption. Apart from the eighty seven people who were shot, blown up, fell from great heights or were crushed by falling logs, of course.

This World War II POW and elephant escape adventure is a bit on the ridiculous side, although it is beautifully filmed, with some great shots of the Bavarian countryside.

For me, the light hearted, sentimental story of the elephant's escape doesn't quite jell with the violence and mayhem dealt out to a large number of Germans; but that's the way they seemed to like their war movies in the sixties.

Oliver Reed is OK as the hero. As for Michael J. Pollard- seeing him in this movie you can understand why his film career never really took off after his popular success in "Bonnie and Clyde". What were originally novel and engaging mannerisms rapidly became tedious and irritating as he repeated them in a variety of roles over the following years.

A pity the main female human character got shot- it was only half a dozen guys and an elephant who got to live happily ever after!