Hannibal Brooks is a 1969

1969 in film

The year 1969 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Last year for prize giving at the Venice Film Festival until it is revived in 1980...

 British

Cinema of the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom has had a major influence on modern cinema. The first moving pictures developed on celluloid film were made in Hyde Park, London in 1889 by William Friese Greene, a British inventor, who patented the process in 1890. It is generally regarded that the British film industry...

 war film

War film

War films are a film genre concerned with warfare, usually about naval, air or land battles, sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training or other related subjects. At times war films focus on daily military or civilian life in wartime without depicting battles...

 about a Prisoner of war

Prisoner of war

A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...

 attempt to escape from Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 to Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, accompanied by an Asian Elephant

Asian Elephant

The Asian or Asiatic elephant is the only living species of the genus Elephas and distributed in Southeast Asia from India in the west to Borneo in the east. Three subspecies are recognized — Elephas maximus maximus from Sri Lanka, the Indian elephant or E. m. indicus from mainland Asia, and E. m....

. It stars Oliver Reed

Oliver Reed

Oliver Reed was an English actor known for his burly screen presence. Reed exemplified his real-life macho image in "tough guy" roles...

, Michael J. Pollard

Michael J. Pollard

- Early life :Born Michael John Pollack, Jr. in Passaic, New Jersey, he is the son of Sonia and Michael John Pollack. He attended the Montclair Academy and the Actors Studio.- Career :...

 and Wolfgang Preiss

Wolfgang Preiss

Wolfgang Preiss was a German theatre, film and television actor.The son of a teacher, in the early 1930s Preiss studied philosophy, German and drama. He also took private acting classes with Hans Schlenck, making his stage début in Munich in 1932...

. It was directed by Michael Winner

Michael Winner

Michael Robert Winner is a British film director and producer, active in both Europe and the United States, also known as a food critic for the Sunday Times.-Early life and early career :...

.

Plot

Stephen "Hannibal" Brooks (Oliver Reed

Oliver Reed

Oliver Reed was an English actor known for his burly screen presence. Reed exemplified his real-life macho image in "tough guy" roles...

) is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 Prisoner of war

Prisoner of war

A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...

 officer

Officer (armed forces)

An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...

 put to work in a Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

 zoo, looking after an Asian elephant

Asian Elephant

The Asian or Asiatic elephant is the only living species of the genus Elephas and distributed in Southeast Asia from India in the west to Borneo in the east. Three subspecies are recognized — Elephas maximus maximus from Sri Lanka, the Indian elephant or E. m. indicus from mainland Asia, and E. m....

 called Lucy. When the zoo is bombed by the Americans

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 the zoo's director (Eric Jelde) determines it's unsafe for the elephant to remain there. So he sends Brooks along with hostile German soldier Kurt (Peter Carsten

Peter Carsten

Peter Carsten is a German actor and film producer. He appeared in 90 films between 1953 and 1999.-Selected filmography:* Sand, Love and Salt * Under Ten Flags * Time of the Innocent...

), a friendly German soldier named Willy (Helmut Lohner) and Vronia, a female cook to accompany the elephant to Innsbruck

Innsbruck

- Main sights :- Buildings :*Golden Roof*Kaiserliche Hofburg *Hofkirche with the cenotaph of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor*Altes Landhaus...

 Zoo via train.

They are forced to walk when an SS commandeer (Wolfgang Preiss

Wolfgang Preiss

Wolfgang Preiss was a German theatre, film and television actor.The son of a teacher, in the early 1930s Preiss studied philosophy, German and drama. He also took private acting classes with Hans Schlenck, making his stage début in Munich in 1932...

) told Brooks that the Elephant wasn't allowed on the train. In Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

, Kurt threatens to shoot Lucy whilst drunk and Brooks accidentally kills Kurt. Brooks, Lucy, Willy and Vronia are forced to run towards the Swiss border. Half way there, Lucy gets Mumps

Mumps

Mumps is a viral disease of the human species, caused by the mumps virus. Before the development of vaccination and the introduction of a vaccine, it was a common childhood disease worldwide...

, so Brooks had to get an Austrian doctor

Physician

A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...

 (Ralf Wolter

Ralf Wolter

-Selected filmography:* Peter Voss, Hero of the Day * Conny und Peter machen Musik * Freddy und das Lied der Südsee * The Heathens of Kummerow * Hannibal Brooks * Heintje: A Heart Goes on a Journey...

) to look after her.

They are helped along the way by an American escapee named Packy (Michael J. Pollard

Michael J. Pollard

- Early life :Born Michael John Pollack, Jr. in Passaic, New Jersey, he is the son of Sonia and Michael John Pollack. He attended the Montclair Academy and the Actors Studio.- Career :...

) who has formed a group of partisans

Partisan (military)

A partisan is a member of an irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation by some kind of insurgent activity...

 to fight the Germans in Austria, after many run-ins with the Nazis.

When Brooks gets close to the border with Lucy he is met with German

Germans

The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

 Col. von Haller (Wolfgang Preiss

Wolfgang Preiss

Wolfgang Preiss was a German theatre, film and television actor.The son of a teacher, in the early 1930s Preiss studied philosophy, German and drama. He also took private acting classes with Hans Schlenck, making his stage début in Munich in 1932...

) the SS commandeer who told him to walk to Switzerland. After another long fight with the Germans, they eventually make it to Switzerland.

Cast

Actor	Role
Oliver Reed Oliver Reed Oliver Reed was an English actor known for his burly screen presence. Reed exemplified his real-life macho image in "tough guy" roles...	Stephen 'Hannibal' Brooks
Michael J. Pollard Michael J. Pollard - Early life :Born Michael John Pollack, Jr. in Passaic, New Jersey, he is the son of Sonia and Michael John Pollack. He attended the Montclair Academy and the Actors Studio.- Career :...	Packy
Wolfgang Preiss Wolfgang Preiss Wolfgang Preiss was a German theatre, film and television actor.The son of a teacher, in the early 1930s Preiss studied philosophy, German and drama. He also took private acting classes with Hans Schlenck, making his stage début in Munich in 1932...	Colonel von Haller
Helmut Lohner	Willi
Peter Carsten Peter Carsten Peter Carsten is a German actor and film producer. He appeared in 90 films between 1953 and 1999.-Selected filmography:* Sand, Love and Salt * Under Ten Flags * Time of the Innocent...	Kurt
Karin Baal Karin Baal Karin Baal , real name Karin Blauermel, is a German film actress. She has appeared in over 90 films since 1956.She was born in Berlin, Germany.-Films:*1956: Die Halbstarken*1957: Der müde Theodor...	Vronia
Aida The Elephant	Lucy
Ralf Wolter Ralf Wolter -Selected filmography:* Peter Voss, Hero of the Day * Conny und Peter machen Musik * Freddy und das Lied der Südsee * The Heathens of Kummerow * Hannibal Brooks * Heintje: A Heart Goes on a Journey...	Doctor Mendel
John Alderton John Alderton John Alderton is an English actor who is best known for his roles in Upstairs, Downstairs, Thomas & Sarah and Please Sir!. Alderton has often starred alongside his wife, Pauline Collins.-Early life:...	Bernard
Jürgen Draeger	Semi
Ernst Fritz Fürbringer Ernst Fritz Fürbringer Ernst Fritz Fürbringer was a German film actor. He appeared in 130 films between 1933 and 1983.He was born in Brunswick, Germany and died in Munich, Germany.-Selected filmography:* Titanic...	Elephant Keeper Kellerman
Erik Jelde	Zoo Director Stern
James Donald James Donald James Donald was a Scottish actor. Tall and thin, he usually specialised in playing authority figures.Donald was born in Aberdeen, and made his first professional stage appearance sometime in the late-1930s, having been educated at Rossall School on Lancashire's Fylde coast...	Padre