Hogan's Heroes is an American television sitcom set in a German prisoner of war (POW) camp during World War II. It ran for 168 episodes from September 17, 1965, to April 4, 1971, on the CBS network. Bob Crane starred as Colonel Robert E. Hogan, coordinating an international crew of Allied prisoners running a Special Operations group from the camp. Werner Klemperer played Colonel Wilhelm Klink, the incompetent commandant of the camp, and John Banner played the bungling sergeant-of-the-guard, Sergeant Hans Schultz.
Maps, Directions, and Place Reviews
Storyline
Setting
The setting is the fictional Luft Stalag 13 (Camp 13 in early episodes), a prisoner-of-war camp for captured Allied airmen, located north of the town of Hammelburg in the Bad Kissingen woods, Lower Franconia. It was on the Hammelburg Road (now known as E45), on the way to Hofburgstraße and eventually Düsseldorf.
However, this is contradicted in "Anchors Aweigh, Men of Stalag 13", which places the camp 60 mi (97 km) from the North Sea; it should be more like 250 mi (400 km).
Another episode places the camp 66 mi (106 km) from Heidelberg in flying miles; it is 199 km (124 mi) by car. The Bad Kissingen woods are actually about 135 kilometres (84 mi) as the crow flies, and 93 mi (150 km) by road, from Heidelberg
The camp has 103 Allied prisoners of war (POWs) during the first season, but becomes larger by the end of the series.
Though the series spans several seasons, it always appears to be winter at Stalag 13; ever-present patches of snow are on the ground and on buildings, and prisoners regularly gather around a barrel fire or shiver through roll call. However, some episodes do in fact take place in spring or summer (such as the episode dealing with the D-Day invasions).
Premise/plot
The premise of the show is that the prisoners of war (POWs) are actually using the camp as a base of operations for Allied espionage and sabotage against Nazi Germany as well as to help Allied POWs from other camps and defectors to escape Germany (including supplying them with civilian clothes and false identification). The prisoners work in cooperation with an assortment of resistance groups (collectively called "the Underground"), defectors, spies, counterspies, disloyal officers, and others. The mastermind behind the whole operation is the senior ranking prisoner US Army Air Forces Colonel Robert Hogan. His staff of experts in covert operations comprises two Americans, one British serviceman, and one Frenchman. They are able to accomplish schemes such as having a prisoner visit the camp as a phony Adolf Hitler or rescuing a French Underground agent from Gestapo headquarters in Paris. The show is thus a combination of several writing styles that were popular in the 60s: the "wartime" show, the "spy" show, and "camp comedy".
Colonel Hogan and his band are aided by the ineptitude of the camp commandant Colonel Klink and Sergeant of the Guard Schultz, both of whom are easily duped and wish to avoid trouble at any cost: the latter declaring "I know nothing" under even the slightest provocation. Hogan routinely manipulates Klink and gets Schultz to look the other way while his men conduct these covert operations. Klink and Schultz are constantly at risk of being transferred to the cold and bloody Russian Front, and Hogan helps to keep the duo in place if for no other reason than for fear of their being replaced by more competent soldiers. In general, Germans in uniform and authority are depicted as inept, dimwitted, and/or easily manipulated. Many of the German civilians are portrayed as at least indifferent towards the German war effort or even willing to help the Allies.
Klink has a perfect operational record as camp commandant in that no prisoners have escaped during his time in the job (two guards may have deserted). Hogan actually assists in maintaining this record and ensures any prisoners who need to be spirited away are transferred to another authority before their escape takes place, or replacements are provided to maintain the illusion that no one has ever escaped from Stalag 13. Because of this record, and the fact that the Allies would never bomb a prison camp, the Germans use the Stalag for high level secret meetings or to hide important persons or projects the Germans want to protect from bombing raids. Klink also has many other important visitors and is temporarily put in charge of special prisoners. This brings the prisoners in contact with many important VIPs, scientists, high-ranking officers, spies, and some of Germany's most sophisticated and secret weapons projects (Wunderwaffe), of which the prisoners take advantage in their efforts to hinder the German war effort.
The main five Allied prisoners (Hogan and his staff) bunk in "Barracke 2". The prisoners are able to leave and return almost at will via a secret network of tunnels and have tunnels to nearly every barracks and building in the camp, so much so that Hogan, in a third-season episode ("Everybody Loves a Snowman"), has difficulty finding a spot in the camp without a tunnel under it. The stove in Klink's private quarters, a tree stump right outside the camp (known as the emergency tunnel), and a doghouse in the guard dog compound serve as trapdoors. A bunk in their barracks serves as an elaborate trapdoor and the main entrance to the tunnels. The tunnels include access to the camp's Cooler, a name used by Allied prisoners for solitary confinement, where prisoners are routinely sent for punishment and to hold special prisoners temporarily entrusted to Klink. Just inside the "emergency tunnel" is a submarine-style periscope, which the prisoners use to check conditions outside the tree stump trapdoor. There is also a periscope in their barracks with one end hidden in a water barrel outside the barracks and the other disguised as a sink faucet inside the barracks that allows them to see events in the compound.
The prisoners' infiltration of the camp is so extensive it includes control of the camp telephone switchboard, allowing them to listen in on all conversations and to make phony phone calls. They have radio contact with Allied command. Their radio antenna is hidden in the camp flagpole on top of Klink's headquarters, and the prisoners are able to make phony radio broadcasts including some by a prisoner impersonating Adolf Hitler. A microphone hidden in Klink's office allows the prisoners to hear what is being said in the office. The guard dogs are friendly to the prisoners, thanks to the town veterinarian Oscar Schnitzer (played by Walter Janowitz), who supports the prisoners. He routinely replaces the dogs on the premise that they could become too friendly with the prisoners, but he also uses his truck to smuggle people and items in and out of the camp, where the German guards are too afraid of the dogs to open the truck. Prisoners work in the camp's motor pool and "borrow" vehicles, including Klink's staff car, as needed to carry out their schemes. Sections of the barbed wire fence are in a frame which the prisoners can easily lift when they need to get out of the camp. When required, Allied airplanes land near the camp, or make airdrops. Allied submarines pick up escapees and defectors Hogan and his men are helping flee Germany.
Cast
Allies
- Colonel Robert E. Hogan (portrayed by Bob Crane) - United States Army Air Forces Colonel Robert E. Hogan, senior ranking POW officer, is the leader of the group. He was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, but considers Cleveland, Ohio, his home, though it is mentioned in "Hogan Gives a Birthday Party" that he is from Indianapolis. He commanded the 504th Bombardment Group, which (after Hogan was shot down) was transferred back to the States to work with the Manhattan Project. He was shot down while on a raid on Hamburg in an operation masterminded by Luftwaffe Colonel Biedenbender (James Gregory), who studied Hogan's tactics in order to defeat him and was promoted to general for doing so (though Hogan gets even by framing Biedenbender for bombing a German refinery, thereby ruining Biedenbender's military career). In contrast to Colonel Klink, Hogan graduated third in his military class. As General Biedenbender stated, Hogan has a flair for the overcomplex, and he seems to thrive on difficult if not impossible missions, which is often shown in the series. Many of the covert operations shown are highly complex, but due to Hogan's care in planning and the skill of his staff, they are usually successful (at least in the end). A U.S. Navy submarine commander in a first-season episode states, "You know, Hogan, if you weren't one of their prisoners, I think you'd be one of ours", due to his less-than-conventional methods of accomplishing his goals. After Hogan tricks Leslie Smythe-Beddoes (Ruta Lee) into letting him make a scandalous broadcast over German radio, Der Führer (Adolf Hitler), who was listening to the broadcast, telephones her boss Colonel Sitzer (Alan Oppenheimer) and tells him: "If this man [Hogan] ever tries to escape, let him". And to say the least, he is a master of manipulation and routinely plays Klink and Schultz like a violin. However, once in a while Klink shows he isn't entirely dimwitted and at least initially gets the better of Hogan. Ever the ladies' man, Hogan has a kissing relationship with Klink's secretaries (Hilda and Helga) and is romantic with most of the civilian women with whom he comes in contact throughout the series. When impersonating German officers, Hogan will often refer to himself as "Hoganmüller", "Hoganschmidt", "Hoganheimer", "Hoganburg", or similar names, always using his surname for part of the German name. The series creator Bernard Fein named Hogan's character after his friend, the American soap opera and character actor Robert J. Hogan, who appeared in two episodes of Hogan's Heroes.
- Staff Sergeant James Kinchloe (portrayed by Ivan Dixon) - United States Army Air Forces Staff Sergeant James (a.k.a. Ivan, a hat-tip to test pilot Iven Kincheloe) "Kinch" Kinchloe is primarily responsible for radio, telephone, and other forms of electronic communications. Although outranked by TSgt. Carter, Kinch acts as second in command in Hogan's crew. This was a large step for a 1960s television show to have an African-American actor identified in such a manner. In the fifth episode of the first season, when it appeared Colonel Crittendon (Bernard Fox) would be the new senior Prisoner of War officer, Hogan introduces his men and cites Kinchloe as Chief of Operations. A talented mimic, Kinchloe easily imitates German officers speaking over the radio or telephone. When Hogan needs a strictly audio impression of Adolf Hitler, the men generally agree that Kinchloe is the better choice for the job over Technical Sergeant Carter. Kinch is from Detroit, where he had worked for the telephone company and before the war fought in the Golden Gloves boxing matches. In "The Softer They Fall", General Burkhalter (Leon Askin) makes reference to the Jesse Owens victories during the 1936 Summer Olympics and Adolf Hitler's displeasure that a black American won medals over German athletes. Kinchloe knocks out the heavyweight champ of Stalag 13, Battling Bruno (Chuck Hicks), while Burkhalter is in the camp. Kinchloe winds up fighting Bruno again, drawing out the fight in a delaying action while Hogan and the others accomplish another sabotage mission. Upon completion of the mission, Hogan yells to Kinch to end the fight, and Kinch knocks Bruno out with one punch, whereupon Hogan throws in the towel and surrenders the fight to prevent the obvious disaster of a black POW's defeating the "master race's finest boxer". At the end of the episode, Kinch says to Klink that he'd like to tell Bruno he is still the champion of Stalag 13, "as soon as he wakes up." As a black man in the middle of wartime Germany, Kinchloe's ability to participate in some undercover activities outside of the camp is limited. In one operation that takes the protagonists outside of Germany, Kinchloe plays the role of a doorman at a nightclub in Paris in order to get close to the owner Carol Dukes, known by her stage name Kumasa (Barbara McNair), who had been a high school classmate of his (a character most likely modeled upon Josephine Baker). In "The Prince from the Phone Company", he impersonates an African prince (also played by Ivan Dixon) and reluctantly has to shave off his trademark moustache. He has a romantic involvement with the prince's wife, Princess Yawanda (Isabel Cooley), a black woman from Cleveland. Dixon departed the series at the end of the fifth season to pursue other opportunities in the entertainment industry. Nothing was mentioned on-screen about Kinchloe's departure.
- Sergeant Richard Baker (portrayed by Kenneth Washington) - Following Dixon's departure from the show after season five, the series producers chose to create a new character rather than recast the part of Kinchloe. Auditions were held in New York City and Los Angeles. Actor Kenneth Washington, who attended an open call, was chosen to play Sergeant Baker. United States Army Air Forces Sergeant Richard Baker, like Kinchloe, was an African-American radio expert who ran the underground communications center. However, with Kinchloe's departure, Newkirk is elevated to the Chief of Operations/Chief of Staff role (despite being subordinate to both Sergeant Baker and TSgt. Carter by rank) during the sixth season. As with Kinchloe, Baker's race limits his sabotage duties outside of Stalag 13, but he is able to contribute vital support to the missions assigned to him by Col. Hogan. As of 2018, Washington is one of two surviving cast members of Hogan's Heroes (the other being Robert Clary).
- Technical Sergeant Andrew Carter (portrayed by Larry Hovis) - United States Army Air Corps Technical Sergeant Andrew J. Carter is in charge of ordnance and bomb-making. TSGT Carter was actually an officer in the first episode and traded his uniform with an enlisted man outside of the camp. This fact was apparently dropped as no other reference was ever made later in the show. He shows a great talent in chemistry and can produce formulas, chemicals, and intricate and explosive devices as needed, although in the first-season episode "The Scientist", he claims to know very little chemistry. (This inconsistency was probably meant to heighten the tension in the plot.) He loves to talk about making and using explosives and, while bright and enthusiastic at his specialties. Carter is also called upon to impersonate German officers and, most convincingly, Adolf Hitler. Carter, as Hitler, responds to a group of German officers saying "Heil Hitler" with "Heil Me". In several episodes, Carter's Hitler fooled Sgt. Schultz, Col. Klink, and even Gen. Burkhalter. Carter was a Boy Scout who had run a drug store in Muncie, Indiana and hopes to become a pharmacist after the war. He is an American Indian; his Sioux name is Little Deer Who Goes Swift and Sure Through Forest, and he once won a snowman-building contest in Bullfrog, North Dakota. His catchphrase is, "You got it Boy [correcting himself] Colonel". His awards include the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Commendation Medal, and Good Conduct Medal. Unlike most of the rest of the "Heroes", Carter is not much of a "ladies' man". After he receives a "Dear John Letter" from his hometown sweetheart, Mary Jane, he requests permission to escape to try to win her back but is asked to complete one last solo mission before escaping. After the mission, he meets a Norwegian woman who charms him enough to feel losing Mary Jane isn't the end of the world. When he returns, he cavalierly says to his comrades before leaving the camp for a date: "Women are like a war; there's always another one coming along." In real life, Hovis was married and refused to remove his wedding ring while filming the show as the bachelor Sergeant Carter. Thus, Carter is usually shown wearing gloves, and his left hand is rarely shown in the show. As a technical sergeant, Carter is the senior non-commissioned officer and after Colonel Hogan, the senior prisoner regularly depicted on the program. Despite this, he is never shown to exercise any real authority over the other prisoners, as Staff Sergeant Kinchloe is Hogan's Chief of Staff. Furthermore, Corporals Newkirk and LeBeau routinely "rib" him about his naïveté, and he comes across as almost childlike in his innocence. However, Hogan's men admire and respect TSgt. Carter and are very loyal to him. Newkirk and Kinchloe even call him "Andrew" on occasion. In the black-and-white pilot episode, "The Informer", Carter has the rank of Lieutenant, and swaps places with the "outside man", Olson, as am escapee from another POW camp temporarily brought into Stalag 13 so Hogan and his men can arrange for him to get out of Germany via submarine with civilian clothes and fake identity papers. After the pilot, Hovis was cast as Tech Sergeant Carter and a regular cast member.
- Corporal Louis LeBeau (portrayed by Robert Clary) - Free French Air Force Corporal Louis LeBeau is a Master Chef who is passionate about his cooking and a notoriously patriotic Frenchman. He often generally refers to Germans in uniform and Nazis as "pigs", and specifically as "Boche" or "dirty Boche", while the other prisoners call them Krauts (which were meant to be derogatory remarks towards World War I and World War II German soldiers). Schultz and Klink refer to LeBeau as "Cockroach". LeBeau gets along better with the guard dogs than any other prisoner, and so is often seen using the tunnel entrance located in the kennel. Though highly claustrophobic, because of his small size he can hide in small spaces, such as the safe in Colonel Klink's office, box crates, or a dumbwaiter. LeBeau also uses his talent as a singer to help the "Heroes" in several episodes. (Clary began his career as a singer.) As a stereotypical French lover, LeBeau tries to be romantic with a number of the women with whom he comes in contact during the series. In one first-season episode, however, he does refer to having a wife. In numerous episodes, LeBeau uses his cooking skills to get Klink out of various jams with his superiors or simply so Klink can impress guests. In exchange for LeBeau's cooking a dinner or banquet, Hogan bargains for extra privileges (which is usually just a ruse to gain access to Klink's guests). LeBeau also bribes Schultz with food, especially his famous apple strudel. In the first two seasons (excluding the pilot), LeBeau made the uniforms and suits, although this job increasingly went to Newkirk. In fact, by the fifth-season episode "Gowns by Yvette", it is suggested that LeBeau cannot even sew a stitch, though he claims creative responsibility for the dress Newkirk eventually sews; but later, he once again began to sew and mend the clothing alongside Newkirk. In the show, LeBeau suffers from hemophobia and is seldom seen without his scarf. He also may have been the first POW at Stalag 13. In one episode, it was shown that he couldn't remember his serial number, although it might have been an act. The farthest he got was "H12497". Robert Clary is a French Jew who was in the Nazi concentration camps Ottmuth and Buchenwald and still has his serial number tattooed on his arm. Clary is one of two surviving cast members of Hogan's Heroes (the other being Kenneth Washington).
- Corporal Peter Newkirk (portrayed by Richard Dawson) - Royal Air Force Corporal Peter Newkirk is the group's conman, magician, pick-pocket, card sharp, forger, bookie, tailor, lock picker, and safe cracker. He does numerous impersonations of German officers and a voice imitation of Adolf Hitler, and on one occasion a great imitation of the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, during the war. On a number of occasions Newkirk dresses as a woman to fool the Germans as part of a mission. However, as a bit of a Casanova, he tries to romantically hook up with most of the women ("birds", as he calls them) he comes in contact with throughout the series. As a skilled tailor, Newkirk is in charge of making or altering uniforms, civilian clothes, and other disguises as needed for missions or for prisoners from other camps they're trying to help get out of Germany. He also uses his skills as pick-pocket, lock picker and safe cracker on many occasions, particularly to open Klink's office safe. As a card sharp, Newkirk helps to make sure Schultz loses a lot and is forever in need of bribe money from the prisoners to pay his gambling losses (Schultz usually pays his debt or gets money to gamble by giving the prisoners information). Newkirk is called "the Englander" by Schultz and even by Klink in some of the episodes. He is also often teamed with Carter, and his irritation at Carter's bumbling antics and dimwittedness is used for comedic effect. Dawson auditioned for the role of Hogan but was told he did not sound American enough Dawson said in an interview that he had initially used a Liverpool accent for the Newkirk character, but had been told by Mike Dann (the then-president of CBS) to switch it to a Cockney accent, as Dann felt the Liverpool accent was not accessible to the American television audience. Dawson expressed his vindication upon seeing a marquee for the first Beatles film A Hard Day's Night in 1964.
Germans
- Colonel Wilhelm Klink (portrayed by Werner Klemperer) - Kommandant Oberst (Colonel) Wilhelm Klink is an old-line Luftwaffe officer of aristocratic (Junker) Prussian descent, but is inept, a bit dimwitted, cowardly, and often clueless and rather gullible. His favorite expression was "No prisoner has ever escaped from Stalag 13", though prisoners could virtually come and go as they pleased. He was born circa 1895 in Leipzig, though he refers to Düsseldorf, where he attended the Gymnasium (high school) (graduating 43rd in his class), as his home town. After failing the entrance exams to study law or medicine, he received an appointment from Kaiser Wilhelm II to a military academy, through the influence of his uncle, the Bürgermeister's barber, and graduated 95th in his class - the only one who has not risen to the rank of general. He has been stuck at the rank of colonel for twenty years with an efficiency rating a few points above "miserable". However, when questioned by Colonel Hogan, Colonel Klink admits that many of his higher-ranking classmates have been killed in action or shot by Hitler. The nearest he ever comes to becoming a general is when Hogan tricks Klink and the German General Staff into thinking Klink has been personally chosen by Hitler to be the new Chief of Staff just as the D-Day invasion begins. When faced with a decision whether to move the German reserves to Normandy or not, Klink can only order more champagne. In another episode, when he thinks he is going to be rich, he claims his 500-year-old name will finally have some money as well. One episode has Klink's coat of Arms with a big "K" with Fencing swords. He always wears a monocle on his left eye, usually carries a riding crop, and walks with a stoop. Normally Klink is seen wearing an Iron Cross First Class, along with the 1939 clasp for a second award (spange), Ground Assault Badge of the Luftwaffe, and the Pilot's Badge. The former implies that he also earned both an Iron Cross Second Class as well as the Honor Cross for service in World War I. (See photo of Klemperer with Bernard Fox.). One or two episodes have Klink wearing the Pour le Mérite. A veteran aviator of the First World War, Klink is content to live out the end of his military career in the relative comfort and safety of a prison camp commandant's billet, although in one episode he wishes he were piloting a Heinkel bomber again and wants his old bomb group back. However, his piloting skills are suspect. On August 4, 1917, during World War I, he panicked and crashed, which left his passenger with a permanent limp. His passenger was none other than "The Blue Baron" Mannfred von Richter (a parody of Manfred von Richthofen, "The Red Baron"). The Blue Baron, by then a general, visits Klink in "Will the Blue Baron Strike Again?" and reminds Klink of the injury. But according to Burkhalter and Schultz, Klink is too afraid to fly. Hogan is able to very easily manipulate Klink through a combination of flattery, chicanery, and playing on Klink's fear of being sent to the hazardous Russian Front or of being arrested by the Gestapo (though the latter actually happened, when he revealed Luftwaffe secrets to an undercover female Gestapo agent whom he was trying to impress. He would be charged with High Treason, but later acquitted). Klink is for the most part portrayed as a vain, muddling, and incompetent career officer rather than as an evil German or ardent Nazi. Colonel Klink received the Citation of Merit-Second Class (fictitious) from General Stauffen during World War II. The general visits Stalag 13 to get a briefcase from Hogan filled with explosives for a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, all under the unsuspecting eyes of Klink. This is typical of the scenarios in which Hogan will entangle Klink. A running gag is that Klink gets doused with water or covered with snow for comedic effect. Another running gag is that Klink is an inept violinist, and is only able to play the U.S. Army Air Forces Song. (In real life, Werner Klemperer was a skilled violinist, son of the famous orchestra conductor Otto Klemperer, and a skilled orchestra conductor in his own right.) General Burkhalter tells Klink, a bachelor, he needs to marry into an important family to improve his chances of becoming a general. Klink initially thinks that Burkhalter is referring to his lovely niece, but Klink finds out that it is actually Burkhalter's homely and gruff sister, the widow Frau Linkmeyer. Klink narrowly escapes from this fate several times with the help of Colonel Hogan. In "War Takes a Holiday", Klink tries to flatter Schultz, a very successful businessman in civilian life, hoping to be hired as a bookkeeper with Schultz's toy company now that he mistakenly thinks the war is over. In "The Missing Klink", Klink is almost shot twice - once by the Underground because he is not of high enough rank to trade for an underground leader and once by the Gestapo - who think Klink is the Allied super spy "Nimrod."
- Sergeant Hans Georg Schultz (portrayed by John Banner) - Oberfeldwebel (During World War II the equivalent to Master Sergeant) Hans Schultz, serial number 23789, is Klink's inept, clumsy and somewhat dimwitted, but affable if not lovable rotund (325 pound) Sergeant of the Guard who is forever taking small bribes from the prisoners, with whom he is overly friendly. Like other German characters on the series, Schultz's rank insignia are inconsistent. He is most often wearing an overcoat with no stripes on his sleeves and the collar and shoulder insignia of Oberfeldwebel. However, when not wearing the overcoat, he displays two stripes at the cuffs of his tunic sleeves, which together with his collar and shoulder insignia indicate the rank of Hauptfeldwebel. This is the equivalent of a Company First Sergeant with the same pay grade as Oberfeldwebel. The bribes are usually in the form of chocolate bars from Red Cross packages or LeBeau's gourmet cooking, often in exchange for information. His main goal is to avoid trouble and as long as he does, or at least gets out of trouble, he does not concern himself too much about the prisoners' activities. Sometimes Hogan and the prisoners will openly discuss details of their latest plot in front of Schultz or even tell him directly what they're up to. However, when Schultz is confronted by blatant evidence of the prisoners' clandestine activities, he will simply look the other way, repeating "I hear nothing, I see nothing, I know nothing!" (or, more commonly as the series went on, simply "I see nothing-NOTHING!"). This eventually became one of the main catchphrases of the series and probably the one most widely used by fans of the show. Though generally shown to be borderline incompetent, he (on occasion) proves his mettle, as can be seen in episodes such as "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to London", in which he catches Hogan assisting another man attempting to escape; he even goes so far as to stand up to Hogan, moving him along at gunpoint. Like Colonel Klink, he is a veteran of World War I. His hometown is Heidelberg, and in civilian life he was the owner of Germany's biggest and most successful toy manufacturing company, the Schatzi Toy Company. With the onset of war, Schultz was involuntarily recalled to military duty and lost control of his toy factory, as it was converted to military use. He has a wife, Gretchen (Barbara Morrison) and five children, whom he sees only on infrequent leaves. However, a few times he is unfaithful, for instance in "Sergeant Schultz Meets Mata Hari", where he dates a woman who, as it turns out, is a Gestapo secret agent. LeBeau once refers to Schultz as a Social Democrat; the political party was banned by the Nazis in 1933. Schultz on several occasions is shown to be very disgusted by Hitler in particular and the Nazis in general. In one episode, he mentions how much he preferred having a kaiser rule Germany. His whole attitude can be summed up by his statement that "When it comes to war, I don't like to take sides". Schultz is also a bad gambler, frequently playing cards with the prisoners, and usually losing -- although much of this is caused by Newkirk fixing the games in order to get information from Schultz (in exchange for the money he lost or for money to gamble). He also likes to drink a bit, especially whenever free liquor is available, but above all Schultz loves to eat, particularly LeBeau's exquisite cooking. Schultz is also very fond of the traditional German dishes Sauerkraut and Sauerbraten. He is described by Klink as being "in his forties." In real life, Banner was in his late fifties. Schultz carries a Krag-Jørgensen rifle, which he never keeps loaded and tends to misplace or even hand to the POWs when he needs to use both hands. He wears a fictitious version of the Iron Cross (4th Grade) awarded by General Kammler (Whit Bissell), a friend whom Schultz mentored during World War I. Schultz also has three other decorations from World War I (including the Wound Badge).
Recurring characters
- Fräulein Helga (portrayed by Cynthia Lynn from 1965 to 1966) and Fräulein Hilda (portrayed by Sigrid Valdis from 1966 to 1971) - Helga and Hilda have served as the secretaries of Colonel Klink. Both Fräulein Helga and Fräulein Hilda were portrayed as having ongoing flirting and kissing relationships with Colonel Hogan. Both assist Hogan and his men in various ways, including providing tidbits of information, access to official papers or equipment, or at least remaining indifferent towards their suspicious conduct in exchange for a warm kiss or some other form of affectionate gesture from Hogan, along with more tangible rewards such as nylon stockings (a luxury in wartime, as nylon is a petrolem-based product), French perfumes and various types of fine chocolates. In the pilot episode, Helga works as manicurist in the prisoners' underground barber shop, but it is only in the pilot episode that it is suggested her cooperation with the prisoners is all that extensive. Eventually, during the run of the TV series, it is implied that Hilda and Hogan have a running romance, especially when she hints at getting a diamond engagement ring in exchange for her help. Sigrid Valdis and Bob Crane were married in 1970 on the show's set in Culver City, California, where all of the interior and some of the exterior scenes of Hogan's Heroes were filmed. Nearly all of the crewmen and -women, and all the cast members of the TV series were present, and Richard Dawson served as the best man to the groom.
- General Albert Hans "Hansi" Burkhalter (portrayed by Leon Askin) - General Albert Burkhalter is Klink's gruff and rotund superior officer, who is promoted from Colonel to General by the High Command between the First and Second episodes of the series. His rank is equivalent to a lieutenant (three-star) general in the American forces. Burkhalter frequently tires of Klink's babbling ("Shut up, Klink!") and regularly threatens to send him to the Russian Front or have him shot. Burkhalter is mystified by Stalag 13's perfect record, unable to make sense of it in contrast with Klink's apparent incompetence. Klink's outstanding record at Stalag 13 is the primary reason for the General never actually making good on any of his threats. Burkhalter's confusion over Klink's skill as a Kommandant when he appears to be an idiot in all other regards is a running gag. Burkhalter affected to live a Spartan existence like a good German officer, but in reality, he loves the good life, even in war. He is scared to death of Mrs. Burkhalter (calling her "the highest authority in Germany"), testifying to this several times during the series and after Hogan manages to get a few compromising photos of the General with very attractive women (in order to blackmail him). As the series progresses, Burkhalter suspects Hogan's greater role at Stalag 13; however, in the end, he, like the other Germans, comes to depend upon Hogan to get them out of trouble with the High Command when one scheme or the other runs off the tracks. Burkhalter usually arrived at Stalag 13 riding in one of the rare Mercedes-Benz W31 three-axle open-top staff cars, one of three still in existence in the 21st century.
- Major Wolfgang Hochstetter (portrayed by Howard Caine) - Major Wolfgang Hochstetter of the Gestapo and the SS (Schutzstaffel), is an ardent Nazi who never understands why Hogan is constantly allowed to barge into Klink's office at will. Hochstetter frequently demands of Klink, "Who is this man?" or "What is this man doing here?!" with increasing stridency. His catchphrase is "Heads will roll!" He is also noted for the many times he shouts "Baah!" at Klink or Hogan after his multiple failures. When the Gestapo is about to take over, Hochstetter uses another catchphrase, "I will surround the camp with a ring of steel". Klink is understandably afraid of him, but Burkhalter, who openly despises Hochstetter, is not. But even Hochstetter, though he comes to regard Hogan as "the most dangerous man in all Germany", fails to see how he himself is manipulated by Hogan; when another German endeavor has ended in disaster, he always accepts Hogan's advice about what to tell Berlin in order to save his own neck. In "War Takes a Holiday", Hogan tricks Hochstetter into believing that the war has ended and lending his staff car to several captured underground leaders, who use it to escape just as Hochstetter's superiors arrive. Howard Caine played two other German officers in the series, Gestapo Kriminaldirektor (Colonel) Feldkamp and Major Keitel, before becoming Major Hochstetter. Though consistently addressed as Major, Hochstetter wears the rank insignia of an SS Standartenführer, which is the equivalent in rank to a Colonel. While Hochstetter is consistently referred to as an officer of the Gestapo, he wears a uniform different from that worn by Gestapo officers, who rarely wore any uniform. The black SS uniform worn by Hochstetter and other German characters had actually been retired for German SS personnel prior to WWII.
- Colonel Rodney Crittendon (portrayed by Bernard Fox) - Colonel Rodney Crittendon is a Royal Air Force group captain whose medals include the Distinguished Service Order, Order of the British Empire, Military Cross and Bar, Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar. He is a hopelessly incompetent British officer who crosses paths several times with Hogan and his crew. He believes that a POW's only duty is to escape and to be involved in anything else is strictly against regulations. When first transferred to Stalag 13 from Stalag 18, Hogan poses a hypothetical question to Crittendon asking what he would do if he were aware the POWs were engaged in spying and sabotage; Crittendon replies that he would report them to the German authorities (thus preventing him from being included in the official mission of the Stalag 13 POWs). However, he eventually comes to understand Hogan's purpose, and agree with it. In a third-season episode, Crittendon volunteers to replace Hogan as the group's leader since he is familiar with the members of the team (even though he has only had a measly two-day training course in espionage and sabotage). Crittendon is also known for developing and attempting to execute various forms of prison camp escapes that never work (even when it's a good idea), and for coming up with the secret "Crittendon Plan", which turns out to consist of planting geraniums along the sides of runways to cheer up returning British pilots. In one episode when Hogan has to kill a German scientist who has knowledge of The Manhattan Project Crittendon tries to undertake the job-by having Sgt Carter use a medieval crossbow as a weapon. (The only result is that Col Klink's hat is pinned to a door.) In a dual role, Bernard Fox played British traitor Sir Charles Chitterly (possibly a parody of William Joyce known as Lord Haw-Haw), who, along with his wife Lady Leslie Chitterly (Anne Rogers), are visiting the camp on their way to see their friend Adolf Hitler. Lookalike Crittendon, who was parachuted into the camp, replaces Sir Charles and is briefly able to fool his wife. After she discovers the truth, she decides not to reveal this to the Germans. Meanwhile, the real Sir Charles escapes and wanders around the camp. Crittendon outranked Hogan as Crittendon has 12 years seniority over Hogan because Crittendon had been stuck at colonel for so long. Crittendon admits that he's been behind a desk for many years. Although the RAF had no rank of Colonel, Group Captain Crittenden was known as Colonel Crittenden to eliminate any confusion that he and Hogan were of the same grade.
- Marya (Nita Talbot) - Marya is a Russian spy who works occasionally with Hogan, but whom he does not entirely trust. She often appears as the trusted paramour of some high-ranking German officer or scientist. Her mission is to either discredit or destroy her paramours, as she notes that "...We cannot trust Hitler to shoot all his own generals". She meets Hogan and LeBeau in Paris during the second season where she learns of his Stalag 13 activities. Her schemes often come into conflict with Hogan's plans, but she nevertheless always proves to be either faithful to the Allied cause or having compatible causes of her own. She is described as a "White Russian", but it is unclear whether this refers to her possible ethnicity as a Belarusian or her possible political allegiance to the Russian anti-communist White Movement (thus allowing her character to remain apolitical - while the Soviet Union was an ally during the war, when the series was filmed anti-communist/anti-Soviet feeling ran high in the U.S.; see the Cold War). Marya is constantly flirting with Hogan, to his discomfort, and also flirts with LeBeau, who she refers to as "my small one". LeBeau believes her to be an innocent, decent woman who won't sell out or get the Heroes in trouble (at least not on purpose). Her trademark line, said with an exaggerated Russian accent, is "Hogan, Dah-link" (Hogan Darling in normal English).
- Tiger (portrayed by Arlene Martel) - Tiger is a beautiful female French Underground contact, who has a running romance with Hogan and appears in the series a few times. Hogan has noted that Tiger has saved his life at least once. Hogan describes Tiger as 'the' leader of the French Underground. He frees her from the Gestapo twice: once on the way to Berlin by train, and once springing her from Gestapo headquarters in Paris.
- Captain Fritz or Felix Gruber (portrayed by Dick Wilson) - Captain Gruber is Klink's adjutant who is rarely seen (Dick Wilson also played several other characters in the series including a member of the Underground). However, in "Don't Forget to Write", Gruber becomes the new ruthless Kommandant of Stalag 13 after Klink mistakenly volunteers for the Russian Front. Because Gruber is rather hard lined and not at all easy to manipulate, the prisoners desperately want to get Klink back. Hogan then orders three prisoners to escape and hide. When Gruber is unable to recapture them, Burkhalter turns to Klink to recapture the prisoners, which he does with the help of Hogan. General Burkhalter sees that it would be a mistake to send Klink to the Russian Front and gives Klink his old job back. In addition to Gruber, several other junior officers or more capable NCO's are occasionally assigned to Klink's command, but one way or another Hogan finds a way to get rid of them. In one episode, Hogan pretends to be Klink's adjutant, a "Major Hogan Hüppel", to fool some German officers. During most of Hogan's Heroes, there is a conspicuous omission of any second-in-command to Kommandant Klink, and in fact, the omission of any junior Luftwaffe officers at all (however, there was an apparent adjutant to Klink in the pilot episode). Klink claims he doesn't need one and often feels threatened by more competent officers, even junior officers.
- Corporal Karl Langenscheidt (portrayed by Jon Cedar) - Corporal Karl Langenscheidt is one of Schultz's guards who is only seen or spoken of occasionally. He often arrives at the worst of times and also informs the distraught Colonel Klink when an important guest arrives, much to Klink's displeasure. In "Art for Hogan's Sake", Langenscheidt gets involved in Hogan's scheme to forge the famous Édouard Manet priceless painting, "The Fife Player", and switch it for the real one General Burkhalter had "requisitioned" from the Louvre museum in Paris to give to Hermann Göring as a birthday present.
- Frau Gertrude Linkmeyer (née Burkhalter) (portrayed by Kathleen Freeman, played once by Alice Ghostley) - Frau Gertrude Linkmeyer is General Burkhalter's gruff, homely and possibly widowed sister whom he tries to marry off, notably to Klink, who knows marrying her would help his career. However, she is usually in a one-sided relationship as Klink is scared to death of her, but Hogan manages to split the two one way or another. A running gag in several episodes with her is that Klink can run away with her husband Otto who, she sometimes protests, is only missing in action on the Russian Front (but as General Burkhalter comments, "Missing in action on the Russian Front ... he's dead!" - implying (1) he has already been killed, (2) has defected to the Russians, and so will be shot when caught, or (3) has deserted, and so will be shot when found). In one episode Hogan commented "You two can start a club". In another running gag Klink threatens to have Hogan shot for even suggesting he could marry Frau Linkmeyer. In "Kommandant Gertrude", Frau Linkmeyer arrives at the camp with her new (reluctant) fiancé, Major Wolgang Karp (Lee Bergere), with whom she intends to replace Klink as camp commandant under her iron-fisted supervision, but Hogan manages to foil her plans and their engagement. She only appears in episodes with General Burkhalter.
- Maurice Dubois/Dubay (portrayed by Felice Orlandi) - Maurice Dubois is a French Underground contact who appeared in several episodes. (Orlandi's real-life wife, Alice Ghostley, appeared in two episodes, one time assuming the role of Frau Linkmeyer and in the other as Mrs. Mannheim).
- Major Bonacelli (portrayed by Hans Conried in the first appearance, Vito Scotti in the second appearance) - Major Bonacelli is a visiting commander of an Italian prisoner-of-war camp who is at Stalag 13 to learn Klink's techniques for no escapes, but is actually not too supportive of the Fascist war effort, particularly the German war effort. In "The Pizza Parlor", Hogan dissuades Major Bonacelli from defecting to neutral Switzerland and convinces him to act as an Allied spy at his POW camp. In "The Return of Major Bonacelli", Hogan talks Bonacelli into photographing the new advanced German anti-aircraft gun before defecting to England (while he is pursued by the Gestapo).
- Oscar Schnitzer (portrayed by Walter Janowitz) is an elderly veterinarian and dog trainer who keeps Stalag 13 supplied with guard dogs, exchanging them once a month for precautionary reasons. However, he is also secretly in league with Hogan and his men, being a member of the German underground resistance, which comes in handy as the dogs he supplies the camp with are actually trained to be friendly to the POWs, and one of the escape tunnels actually leads into the dogs' kennel, right underneath one of the dog houses! His truck is also occasionally used for smuggling people in and out of camp, as the guards are too afraid of the dogs to inspect it too closely.
Other notable actors to appear on Hogan's Heroes included the following:
- Gavin MacLeod played several German characters, including the corrupt Gestapo Major Kiegel and Gen. von Rauscher.
- James B. Sikking played three characters, including an SS officer, a German soldier, and an Underground leader.
- William Christopher played four characters, including a German soldier on leave, a POW pretending to be a German general and POW "Thomas" who temporarily takes over the duties normally assigned to Carter.
- Henry Corden, also played several characters on both sides including "The Blue Baron".
- Harold Gould played several German generals.
- Ben Wright played several German officers including Count Rudolf von Heffernick, but also a defecting German scientist, Dr. Riemann.
- John Dehner played Gen. von Platzen and Col. Backscheider.
- Bob Hastings played Russian pilot Igor Piotkin in "A Russian is Coming".
- Noam Pitlik played several characters on both sides, including the German spy planted among the prisoners in the black-and-white pilot episode.
- In a dual role, Lloyd Bochner played Group Captain James Roberts who is on his way to meet Winston Churchill, but is replaced by his lookalike German spy Leutnant Baumann who plans on assassinating Churchill.
- Antoinette Bower played three roles including "Berlin Betty" (a parody of "Axis Sally"), a British traitor who makes propaganda broadcasts for the Nazis.
- Leonid Kinskey played a Russian prisoner in the pilot episode, but departed afterward as he was uncomfortable acting opposite people pretending to be Nazis.
- Ruta Lee appeared in three episodes, playing a Russian, a French and an English woman.
- Dave Morick, John Stephenson, Edward Knight, Stewart Moss, Larry D. Mann, David M. Frank and John Hoyt each appeared in the series a number of times, usually as Germans though with some in minor roles.
- Theo Marcuse
- Sandy Kenyon
- Whit Bissell
Broadcast history
- Friday at 8:30-9:00 p.m. on CBS: September 17, 1965 - April 7, 1967; September 26, 1969 - March 27, 1970
- Saturday at 9:00-9:30 p.m. on CBS: September 9, 1967 - March 22, 1969
- Sunday at 7:30-8:00 p.m. on CBS: September 20, 1970 - April 4, 1971
Episodes
Pilot episode
The pilot episode, "The Informer", filmed in early 1965, aired on September 17 that year. The episode's plot centered on two new prisoners entering Stalag 13 (in this episode, referred to as Camp 13), Lieutenant Carter (played by Hovis), who escapes into the camp, and Wagner (played by Noam Pitlik), who is actually a German spy posing as an Allied prisoner. Wagner attempts to expose Hogan's operation to General Burkhalter (here known as Colonel Burkhalter), but Hogan and his men are able to discredit the spy. As punishment for his outlandish claims, the spy is sent to the Russian front.
Although the series remained true to the pilot in most respects, there were some changes. Some of the prisoners' luxuries, such as an underground steam room, were eliminated to make the situation marginally more plausible. The character of Colonel Klink was made more of a fool than a villain, while his sharp accent was toned down. Klink's walk had less of the distinctive stoop. He also does not carry the riding crop he often affected during prisoner roll calls in other episodes.
The major difference was that only the pilot was shot in black-and-white. After the series was sold to CBS, the network announced a major push in color programming for the 1965-66 season, and so the rest of the season (and the series) was filmed in color.
The character of Vladimir Minsk, a Soviet POW played by Leonid Kinskey, was intended to be a series regular. However, Kinskey declined to continue with the series. Stewart Moss, who played an American POW named Olson in the pilot, also declined an offer to become a series regular. Larry Hovis was intended to be a guest star in the pilot only. However, producer Ed Feldman was impressed by his performance and, after Kinskey and Moss declined to take part in the series, was offered a regular role. Hovis's character was changed from a lieutenant to a sergeant. According to Hovis, Feldman chose to do this because "sergeants are more sympathetic." Although Hovis's character had escaped at the end of the pilot, Feldman did not see this as a problem because he believed "no one will care".
Production
Outdoor scenes were filmed on the 40 Acres Backlot in Culver City, California. The set was destroyed in 1974 while the final scene of Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS was filmed. The theme music was composed by Jerry Fielding, who added lyrics to the theme for Hogan's Heroes Sing The Best of World War II - an album featuring Dixon, Clary, Dawson, and Hovis singing World War II songs. The song also appeared on the album Bob Crane, His Drums and Orchestra, Play the Funny Side of TV.
The actors who played the four major German roles--Werner Klemperer (Klink), John Banner (Schultz), Leon Askin (Burkhalter), and Howard Caine (Hochstetter)--were Jewish. Furthermore, Klemperer, Banner, Askin, and Robert Clary (LeBeau) were Jews who had fled the Nazis during World War II. Clary says in the recorded commentary on the DVD version of episode "Art for Hogan's Sake" that he spent three years in a concentration camp, that his parents and other family members were killed there, and that he has an identity tattoo from the camp on his arm ("A-5714"). Likewise John Banner had been held in a (pre-war) concentration camp and his family was killed during the war. Leon Askin was also in a pre-war French internment camp and his parents were killed at Treblinka. Howard Caine, who was also Jewish (his birth name was Cohen), was American, and Jewish actors Harold Gould and Harold J. Stone made multiple appearances playing German generals. As a teenager, Klemperer fled Hitler's Germany with his family in 1933. During the show's production, he insisted that Hogan always win against his Nazi captors or else he would not take the part of Klink. He defended his playing a Luftwaffe Officer by claiming, "I am an actor. If I can play Richard III, I can play a Nazi." Banner attempted to sum up the paradox of his role by saying, "Who can play Nazis better than us Jews?" Klemperer, Banner, Caine, Gould, and Askin play stereotypical World War II Germans, and all had served in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II--Banner and Askin in the U.S. Army Air Corps, Caine in the U.S. Navy, Gould with the U.S. Army, and Klemperer in a U.S. Army Entertainment Unit.
German film distributor KirchGruppe acquired broadcasting rights to the show but initially did not air it out of fear that it would offend viewers. In 1992, episodes were shown on German television for the first time, but the program failed to connect with viewers due to issues with lip syncing. However, after the dialogue was rewritten to make the characters look even more foolish (which ensured that the viewers understood the characters were caricatures), the show became successful. An unseen original character was additionally introduced in "Kalinke", Klink's cleaning lady and perennial mistress; Klink described her as performing most of her cleaning duties in the nude.
Legal issues
Donald Bevan and Edmund Trzcinski, the writers of the 1951 play Stalag 17, a World War II prisoner-of-war story turned into a 1953 feature film by Paramount Pictures, sued Bing Crosby Productions, the show's producer, for infringement. Their lawsuit was unsuccessful. While the jury found in favor of the plaintiffs, the federal judge overruled them. The judge found "striking difference in the dramatic mood of the two works."
In 2012, an arbitration hearing was scheduled to determine whether Bernard Fein and Albert S. Ruddy, the creators of the show, had transferred the right to make a movie of Hogan's Heroes to Bing Crosby Productions along with the television rights or had retained the derivative movie rights. In 2013, Fein (through his estate) and Ruddy acquired the sequel and other separate rights to Hogan's Heroes from Mark Cuban via arbitration, and a movie based on the show was planned.
Reception
Hogan's Heroes won two Emmy Awards out of twelve nominations. Both wins were for Werner Klemperer as outstanding supporting actor in a comedy, in 1968 and 1969. Klemperer received nominations in the same category in 1966, 1967 and 1970. The series' other nominations were for comedy series in 1966, 1967 and 1968; Bob Crane for actor in a comedy series in 1966 and 1967; Nita Talbot for supporting actress in a comedy in 1968; and Gordon Avil for cinematography in 1968.
Nielsen ratings
Note: The highest average rating for the series is in bold text.
Home releases
CBS DVD (distributed by Paramount) has released all six seasons of Hogan's Heroes on DVD in Region 1 & 4. The series was previously released by Columbia House as individual discs, each with five or six consecutive episodes.
On March 8, 2016, CBS Home Entertainment re-released a repackaged version of the complete series set, at a lower price.
Merchandise and promotion
In 1965, Fleer produced a 66-trading card set based on the series. Dell Comics produced nine issues of a series based on the show from 1966 to 1969, all with photo covers. The artwork was provided by Henry Scarpelli. Mad magazine #108 (January 1967) parodied the show as "Hokum's Heroes". An additional one-page parody called "Hochman's Heroes" took the show's premise to the next level by setting it in Buchenwald concentration camp.
In 1968, Clary, Dawson, Dixon, and Hovis recorded an album titled Hogan's Heroes Sing the Best of World War II, which included lyrics for the theme song. While the show was in production, Crane, Klemperer, Askin and Banner appeared in the 1968 film The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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