Hannibal Brooks (1969)

Director:

Michael Winner

Writers:

Dick Clement (screenplay)
Ian La Frenais (screenplay)

Release Date:

23 July 1969 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Adventure | War | Action

Tagline:

Guess who "got the Steve McQueen-Sean Connery-Burt Lancaster-type role" in this super adventure? Me.

Plot:

A prisoner of war working at a zoo gets the chance to escape from the Germans, so he does and he takes with him the elephant that he's been caring for...

Plot Keywords:

Escape | Prisoner Of War | Zoo | Elephant | WWII

Cast

Oliver Reed	...	Stephen 'Hannibal' Brooks
Michael J. Pollard	...	Packy
Wolfgang Preiss	...	Col. von Haller
John Alderton	...	Bernard
Helmut Lohner	...	Willi
Peter Carsten	...	Kurt
Karin Baal	...	Vronia
Ralf Wolter	...	Dr. Mendel
Jürgen Draeger	...	Sami (as Jurgen Draeger)
Maria Brockerhoff	...	Anna
Til Kiwe	...	Von Haller's Sergeant
Ernst Fritz Fürbringer	...	Elephant Keeper Kellerman (as Ernst Fritz Furbringer)
Fred Haltiner	...	Josef
John Porter-Davison	...	Geordie (as John Porter Davison)
Terence Sewards	...	Twilight

Runtime:

UK:102 min | USA:101 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | German

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:M | West Germany:16 | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Bavaria, Germany

Company:

Scimitar Films

Trivia:

Karin Baal was dubbed by Nikki Van der Zyl.

Yes, a little different, but it's a terrific movie.

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.