YouTube came up trumps last night while the wife was on soap watching duty with a nice film to watch, Hannibal Brooks (1969). A strange war film where a British soldier escapes to Switzerland with an elephant.
When captured, Hannibal Brooks, (Oliver Reed) is more than happy to be heading for a Stalag POW camp. The Germans looking for volunteers to work outside the camp sees Brooks and some friends jump at the chance. They end up working in Munich zoo and Brooks is to help the caretaker for the zoo's elephant, Lucy. Later the caretaker is killed in a bombing raid and the Director of the Zoo asks Brooks to take charge and lead Lucy to safety in Austria.
Unable to take the elephant by train, Brooks sets off on foot, accompanied by two German guards and a female cook. Following the accidental death of one of the guards, plans change and the remaining trio make their way to Switzerland.
Brooks and Willi (Helmuth Lohner) are captured but manage to escape with the help of Packy (Michael J. Pollard) an American who was captured with Brooks and escaped from the Stalag POW camp and their paths just keeps crossing. Vronia (Karin Baal) also a prisoner reluctantly takes up with Colonel von Haller (Wolfgang Preiss) whose path crosses Brooks' as well after she is made an offer she couldn’t refuse.
Willi is killed helping Brooks, he runs into Von Haller and Vronia they are planning to escape over the border to Switzerland so join forces, it is not long before Packy, and his group of partisans join the party. The plan is to use von Haller to bluff their way through, but like most Nazis, he betrays them as he was using them to get to the border safely. Vronia tries to warn the others but Von Haller orders her shot and she is killed. After another long fight with the Germans, Brooks and Lucy eventually get to Switzerland with Packy and his remaining partisans.
There is some great German scenery in the film as Brooks and company make their way into the high country. 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.
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