.... "And they all lived happily after..." claims the closing caption. Apart from the eighty seven people who were shot, blown up, fell from great heights or were crushed by falling logs, of course.
This World War II POW and elephant escape adventure is a bit on the ridiculous side, although it is beautifully filmed, with some great shots of the Bavarian countryside.
For me, the light hearted, sentimental story of the elephant's escape doesn't quite jell with the violence and mayhem dealt out to a large number of Germans; but that's the way they seemed to like their war movies in the sixties.
Oliver Reed is OK as the hero. As for Michael J. Pollard- seeing him in this movie you can understand why his film career never really took off after his popular success in "Bonnie and Clyde". What were originally novel and engaging mannerisms rapidly became tedious and irritating as he repeated them in a variety of roles over the following years.
A pity the main female human character got shot- it was only half a dozen guys and an elephant who got to live happily ever after!
This World War II POW and elephant escape adventure is a bit on the ridiculous side, although it is beautifully filmed, with some great shots of the Bavarian countryside.
For me, the light hearted, sentimental story of the elephant's escape doesn't quite jell with the violence and mayhem dealt out to a large number of Germans; but that's the way they seemed to like their war movies in the sixties.
Oliver Reed is OK as the hero. As for Michael J. Pollard- seeing him in this movie you can understand why his film career never really took off after his popular success in "Bonnie and Clyde". What were originally novel and engaging mannerisms rapidly became tedious and irritating as he repeated them in a variety of roles over the following years.
A pity the main female human character got shot- it was only half a dozen guys and an elephant who got to live happily ever after!