Hannibal Brooks

Lance Corporal Stephen “Hannibal” Brooks, Oliver Reed a British prisoner of war, is assigned to the Munich zoo to look after a female Asian elephant named Lucy. When American bombers strike the zoo, the director decides the zoo is no longer safe for Lucy, and Brooks, along with a hostile German soldier named Kurt Peter Carsten, a friendly German soldier named Willy Helmuth Lohner, and Vronia, a cook, are ordered to move the elephant by train to Innsbruck.

They are forced to walk when Colonel von Haller, an SS officer, tells Brooks that Lucy is not allowed on the train. In Austria, Kurt, drunk, threatens Lucy and Brooks accidentally kills Kurt. Brooks, Lucy, Willy, and Vronia are forced to run toward the Swiss border, aided along the way by an American escapee named Packy Michael J. Pollard, who has formed a group of partisans to fight the Germans in Austria.

Halfway there, Lucy contracts mumps, so Brooks finds an Austrian doctor to look after her, while Vronia and Willy run to Willy’s parents’ house. Vronia and Willy are captured and are later joined by Brooks. Packy and his partisans rescue them and continue racing toward Switzerland with Lucy. Along the way, Willy is shot by the Nazis while helping Brooks to escape.

When Brooks reaches the border with Lucy, von Haller confronts him and proposes that the trio walk to Switzerland with Vronia, who has changed sides after being captured, and defect with them due to Germany’s deteriorating position. They are joined by Packy and his partisans near a German border post. The plan is to use von Haller to bluff their way through, but he betrays them. Vronia tries to warn the others and is shot in the back. After another long fight with the Germans, Brooks and Lucy finally reach Switzerland with Packy and his remaining partisans.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 10:49