WWII story with a light touch has Hannibal Brooks, a British POW in Germany, volunteering to care for one of the zoo animals left vulnerable by the bombing; he's assigned Lucy, an Asian elephant. After the zoo is destroyed by fire, Brooks, a female cook and two German soldiers are instructed to accompany Lucy across the Swiss border--a journey which will also provide crafty Brooks with the opportunity to escape. Something different from director Michael Winner, known at that time for his 'mod' British dramas (although the colorful stories told about Winner during production show that the filmmaker had not misplaced his bad boy persona). The screenplay by Ian La Frenais and Dick Clement, based on a story by Winner and Tom Wright, has some basis in fact, and yet it's a very patchy film. The cinematography and scoring are lovely, and Oliver Reed as Brooks gives a charmingly unforced performance, but the third act with American escapee Michael J. Pollard helping Reed defeat the Nazis is wearing. Pollard was riding high on the success of "Bonnie and Clyde" two years before, but he's clearly not the star here, nor is Reed. It takes a delightful pachyderm to upstage these wily men, not to mention the entire German army. ** from ****