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.
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.