Hannibal Brooks

1969
PG-13
1h 41m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Oliver Reed and Michael J. Pollard in Hannibal Brooks (1969)

A British prisoner of war working at a zoo gets the chance to escape from the Germans, so he does and takes with him the elephant that he's been caring for. Together, they head for the Swiss... Read allA British prisoner of war working at a zoo gets the chance to escape from the Germans, so he does and takes with him the elephant that he's been caring for. Together, they head for the Swiss border and freedom.A British prisoner of war working at a zoo gets the chance to escape from the Germans, so he does and takes with him the elephant that he's been caring for. Together, they head for the Swiss border and freedom.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

1.8K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Photos26

+ 19

Top cast23

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Oliver Reed

Stephen 'Hannibal' Brooks

John Alderton

Bernard

Michael J. Pollard

Packy

Wolfgang Preiss

Colonel Friedrich von Haller

Helmuth Lohner

Willi
(as Helmut Lohner)

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 Kellermann
(as Ernst Fritz Furbringer)

Erik Jelde

Zoo Director Stern
(as Eric Jelde)

Fred Haltiner

Josef

John Porter-Davison

Geordie
(as John Porter Davison)

Terence Sewards

Twilight

James Donald

Padre

Aida the Elephant

Lucy

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Aida, the Elephant, who plays "Lucy", lived at the Rotterdam Zoo until July 23rd, 1981, when she died at age 46. She arrived in Rotterdam from Thailand on Jul 9th, 1940, at the age of 5 years-old, already trained to obey some human commands in Thai, just 2 months after the Nazi blitz bombing of Rotterdam on May 14th, 1940, which killed over 900 and left over 30,000 homeless. Aida then survived 18 Allied air force bombing runs over Rotterdam from June 1941 to December 1944. Then, Aida survived the Nazi food blockade of the Netherlands until May 1st, 1945, when Allied relief was parachute dropped into Rotterdam. Over 18,000 Dutch citizens starved to death during the famine. Another survivor of the Nazi food blockade was actress Audrey Hepburn who took refuge with her mother's family in Arnhem: Her family survived the famine by beating tulip bulbs into flour and baking tulip bread. Until her death, Aida was a prized performing elephant at the Rotterdam Zoo often appearing before classes of children and responding to her trainer's spoken commands.

Quotes
Dr. Mendel: [Wanting to improve his English, and not realizing that the word is the same in German and English] How do you say "elephant"?
Stephen 'Hannibal' Brooks: [Not hearing the question, but instead commenting that they have arrived] We are here.
Dr. Mendel: Ah, the "Ve are here".
[This starts the running joke of Dr Mendel referring to the elephant as the "ve are here"]

Connections
Referenced in Operation Dumbo Drop (1995)

User reviews33

Review

Featured review

8/10

A road movie with a difference!

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.