Hogan's Heroes

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Hogan's Heroes was a television sitcom that ran on the CBS television network from 1965 to 1971. Starring Bob Crane as Colonel Robert Hogan, the show was set at Stalag 13, a German prisoner of war camp for Western Allied prisoners during World War II. In the plot, Stalag 13 was a "Luft Stalag", located near the village of Hammelburg, run by the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) for Allied Air Force personnel. The producers of the show greatly stretched reality, as in allowing a black prisoner to be barracked with Whites, something that the Nazis and even the White Allied Officers would never have allowed in real life.

Contents

Plot

The show's improbable premise was that the Allied prisoners of war at Stalag 13 were using the camp as a base of operations for sabotaging the German war effort and assisting the Allies. The prisoners operated a secret network of tunnels that led outside the camp, located near the town of Hammelburg, Germany, and had radio contact with Allied command. They were aided by the fact that the camp commandant was the bumbling Colonel Klink (played by Werner Klemperer), who proudly proclaimed that "no one has ever escaped from Stalag 13", not knowing (or probably not concerned) that his prisoners routinely came and went as they pleased via a secret tunnel (perhaps inspired by that depicted in The Great Escape). Hogan also easily manipulated Klink and Sergeant Schultz (played by the portly John Banner) into creating ideal situations for the secret operations conducted by the men at Stalag 13.

Possible inspiration for series

Many have also seen the interaction between the prisoners as being at least somewhat inspired by the black comedy motion picture about a World War II German POW camp, Stalag 17. This movie even had a Sergeant Johann Sebastian Schultz, who appeared genial but was actually in league with the traitor among the prisoners. There was so much of a similarity, that the producers of Stalag 17 sued the producers of Hogan's Heroes for infringement; and won.

Also, there was a real life Stalag 13, and an Offlag 13 (which contained officers), located near a real German village of Hammelburg. The senior American prisoner here was Lt. Colonel Waters, who was the son-in-law of General George S. Patton. In April, 1945, General Patton sent a task force on a raid to rescue the prisoners of Stalag 13. The task force got in, but all of the vehicles were destroyed getting out. Few of the soldiers managed to make it back to American lines. The Stalag was liberated about a month later. Books written about this effort include "The Raid" and "48 Hours to Hammelburg".

The German Officers

Klink was a patriotic German and old-line German Air Force officer as well as a social climber. Klink was not a Nazi Party member or malicious or evil although he was somewhat self-centered, and was in fact likeable in his own way. Because he was so easily manipulated by Hogan and his fellow prisoners, the worst thing that could have happened for the prisoners was for Klink to be transferred away; this in fact was the source of an occasional plot line. Over the course of the series a mutual respect and even pseudo-friendship developed between Hogan and Klink.

Hogan was also aided by Klink's bumbling and highly incompetent guard Schultz, a basically good-hearted man who, when confronted with possible shenanigans by the prisoners that he would rather not believe or avoid the complications of having to report it, would simply repeat, "I know nothing! Nothing!" and "I see nothing! Nothing!" One rule in the show Klemperer insisted upon was that Hogan would always win (Klemperer was of Jewish extraction). In one episode, Schultz confided in Hogan that he was a Social Democrat. The left-of-center SPD (Social Democratic Party) was the only one among pre-1933 parties that refused to go along with Hitler's "legal" coup in early 1933. It never ceased opposing the Nazis and choose exile rather than Gleichschaltung<i> or "coordination" with the Nazi line. Perhaps this secret of Schultz's would explain his turning a blind eye to the obvious Allied activities.

Although this was never explicitly referred to in the series, both Colonel Klink and Sergeant Schultz wore uniforms that implied they both had noteworthy World War I service; Schultz and Klink both wore the Iron Cross, an important wartime German decoration. In one episode, they were discussing what they would do after the war. Schultz said he would go back to the Schotzy Toy Company. Klink was impressed since it was the largest toy company in Germany, so he asked, "Do you think your boss will give you your old job back?" and was flabbergasted when Schultz said, "Why not? I am the boss!"

Other members of the German military were more threatening. General Burkhalter (Leon Askin) frequently tired of Klink's incompetence and often threatened to send Klink to the Russian Front, mentioned repeatedly throughout the show as the worst thing that could happen to a German soldier. "Klink," he once told the bumbling commandant, "you will be Court-martialed, shot, and sent to the Russian front!"

Complicating Burkhalter's life—Klink and Burkhalter apparently had known each other for years—was that his sister Gertrude thought Klink would make a good husband. Klink, however, did not like her.

Perhaps even more menacing was evil Major Hochstetter (Howard Caine) of the Gestapo, who was an ardent Nazi and never understood why Hogan would simply barge into Klink's office and hang out there as if he had a privileged role rather than simply being a prisoner of war. "Who is this man?" or "What is this man doing here?!" Hochstetter would demand. Klink was justifiably afraid of him, but Burkhalter, who was not easily intimidated, was not. Once Klink told Burkhalter, "I despise that man!" about Hochstetter. Burkhalter replied, "So do I". On another occasion when Hochstetter, lacking social skills, took dancing lessons from Lebeau, Burkhalter told a guard, "Arrest that man!'. Hochstetter: "On vat charge?" Burkhalter: "Dancing with a prisoner."

Klink the Bureaucrat?

Noteworthy on a sitcom, a subtle subplot of the show often displayed Col. Klink as a hapless bureaucrat, constantly slaving on meaningless paperwork. During an age when most white-collar sitcom characters were never shown actually "working for a living", Klink's attention to his endless paperwork served to both display Klink as a "mere cog in the machine" and to illustrate the rote rule-following familiar to the bureaucrat. Klink seemed in tune with his role in the world, apparently understanding the fundamental mindlessness of his work tasks. One exchange between Klink and Hogan shows Klink fretting about the amount of paperwork that he has to complete. Hogan offers a solution: label each document 'Attention Col. Johan Schmidt', a common name (i.e. "John Smith"), and ship it off to Berlin. Once Hogan departs, Klink uses the tactic and clears his desk.

Plot holes?

The plots of most episodes of Hogan's Heroes were wildly implausible in nearly every respect, but this is arguably par for the course for a sitcom. However, some unrealistic aspects in particular have struck some viewers as at least bearing comment.

The show made no attempt to resolve the language problem of the Germans and the Allies. All the German characters in the show simply spoke English with a German accent, although they used certain stock German phrases like Heil Hitler and Jawohl, Herr Kommandant. Because many of the plots involved prisoners impersonating German military, it appears that all of the prisoners spoke perfect unaccented German, and that none of the guards found this to be remarkable. Also, Corporals LeBeau (Robert Clary) and Newkirk (Richard Dawson) were often disrespectful of Sergeant Carter (Larry Hovis), addressing him by his surname and generally abusing him, while real-world army discipline would be unlikely to tolerate this level of disrespect for a superior non-commissioned officer. It could also be suggested Major Hochstetter's abuse of the higher-ranking Colonel Klink was likewise impermissible; however Gestapo personnel often had a nerve-wracking effect on personnel of the regular German Armed Forces, due in large measure to their generally-stronger links to power centres of the Nazi Party; this was sometimes used to great effect by the Gestapo, so this relationship could be considered somewhat unremarkable. Some have stated that true enjoyment of this program, in any event, requires a certain level of suspension of disbelief. That is arguably the case for a significant number of television programs. No one would argue that the contemporary hit show Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. was intended to be a documentary about the United States Marine Corps, for example.

There's also the matter, rarely addressed in more than a cursory fashion as an occasional episode, of why, as the series progressed, the German government never investigated more vigorously the unusually high number for sabotage incidents and military setbacks that occur in or in close proximity to Stalag 13. While there are individual episodes of Hogan's team diverting small scale investigations, the sheer number of incidents should have sparked a major search that the saboteurs would have had considerable difficulty countering. Arguably, such an investigation would have brought the series to a close with the saboteurs being forced to escape.

Jewish actors played most of the German parts

Some of the actors, including Werner Klemperer, John Banner and Leon Askin (né Leo Aschkenasy) were Jews who had fled the Nazis during World War II. Robert Clary, who played the Frenchman LeBeau, and John Banner, who played Hans Schultz, had actually spent time in a Nazi concentration camp. Howard Caine, who portrayed the malevolent SS Major Hochstetter, was also Jewish. The show also starred Richard Dawson, who later became famous as the host of Family Feud.

Askin had a particularly illustrious career. Before emigrating to the United States in 1940, he had already spent nearly two decades starring on the Viennese stage, where he became known as "the man of a thousand faces." When he and Banner left Austria, they spoke little or no English, and until they mastered it, they had their scripts spelled out for them phonetically.

Coincidentally, Askin and Banner both had memorable guest appearances in the popular syndicated 1950s TV series, The Adventures of Superman, playing characters that somewhat anticipated their roles in Hogan's Heroes.

Popularity

Years after its American debut, the show became popular in Germany. In response to both sensitivities over Nazism and German laws which prohibit Nazi symbolism, when German characters raised their arms and said "Heil Hitler" in the original version, the dubbed German version would bowdlerise that line into something ridiculous, such as "The wheat grows this high". The show is currently running in Germany, with a newly dubbed soundtrack without such bowdlerism.

It also introduced a new character, the cleaning-lady, who is referred to but never seen, as she was not in the English-language original. She was probably invented to fill up space where the characters were still talking but the meaning had already been conveyed due to the differences between the languages.

Frequent pop culture references to the show are a testament to its popularity. For example, it is referred to in multiple episodes of The Simpsons. In one episode, Col. Klink appears to Homer Simpson in his dreams and is actually voiced by Werner Klemperer.

Criticisms

While Hogan's Heroes was, and remains, a popular show, it has had many critics. Beyond the usual criticism of the show's quality, there were many who were disturbed by the portrayals of the Germans as funny and incompetent. Many felt this trivialized the evil of the Nazis and the war or that the Germans were not hard soldiers to beat. But Klink was a career soldier, and many real-life members of the Luftwaffe and Wehrmacht, even among the officer corps, were historically not Nazis, and Klemperer certainly believed that the show portrayed Nazis badly enough; otherwise he would have pulled out. Leon Askin's parents died in a Nazi concentration camp, and as Robert Clary and John Banner were in concentration camps as well, it is unlikely they would have trivialized the Holocaust. Besides, historically the Luftwaffe stalags provided the best treatment of Allied prisoners of war, which put them at the other end of the spectrum from the death camps.

Beyond any 'political incorrectness' in the setting of the series, there are many admirable qualities about the show. The most important is alluded to in the early paragraphs – in the series, Sergeant James Kinchloe, a black American (played by Ivan Dixon), not only lived in the same barracks with the other prisoners but was an integral part of the team, serving as an apparent, if not actual second in command. If one watches the program carefully, it can be noted that Colonel Hogan almost always relied on Kinch's (as the character was known as) opinions and his character usually provided relevant facts in helping resolve their situation. In many other subtle ways, the show was ahead of its time (to the point of serious anachronism) – people would pour coffee FOR Kinch and the other characters would even physically lean or drape their arm around him. In a time in America where civil rights issues (trivial and major) were still being resolved and fought over, Kinch was actually quite a groundbreaking character as Hogan's Heroes was in the AC Nielsen Top 10 for the first two seasons. This is in contrast this with other popular TV sitcoms such as The Andy Griffith Show where no black character/actor ever even appeared to exist in the town of Mayberry. What's more is that as with most sitcoms, Kinch actually got to "star" in his own episodes and even more daring, he got to kiss a girl. While today, it seems laughable to most modern Westerners that scenario would even merit mention, at the time the few other regular black actors on American TV (Bill Cosby in I Spy and, Greg Morris of Mission: Impossible, for example) were much more chaste. While the young lady in question was an African-American actress (American TV's first interracial kiss would have to wait for the science fiction series Star Trek, later in the decade) the show served to illustrate how Kinch was written as a well-rounded "normal" character.

Another appealing aspect of the series is the talent of the regulars - with the ironic exception of Bob Crane, every other actor usually got to summon up a different persona every episode ... Carter would go from the meek and mild Carter character to imitating the lunatic rant of Hitler; or lovable Sgt. Schultz would bark in a gruff and authoritative manner - but then they would immediately switch back to his old self. It was a series filled with great "hams", but all talented in many ways.

The series is also interesting in that the characters regularly killed people – even if they were 'enemies' and even for a worthy cause, not a lot of series – even dramas – manage to pull off this feat and still leave the characters as sympathetic.

Fan fiction

Some writers of Hogan's Heroes fan fiction portray Klink and/or Schultz as being smarter than they appeared, and mildly in opposition to the worst of the Nazis. As examples, in one work, Schultz's family is portrayed as being part of the Confessing Church, an underground Protestant church that opposed the Nazis, but to which he obviously wouldn't want anyone to know he belonged. Some fans even hope for a feature film in the future. In other fan fiction, Klink is portrayed as being a master spy, his apparent bumbling incompetence being part of his cover.

Regular cast and characters

Frequent or recurring guest characters

Series Pilot

The series pilot was produced in black-and-white. According to TVGuide, it was broadcast as the first episode of the series but never repeated on the network. It differed from the regular series in several ways, the most obvious being that Klink was not a buffoon. He is stern and describes himself as being of Prussian stock and "different from the new order."

Also, Burkhalter was only a colonel, not the general he was in the series.

Larry Hovis is a guest star. He is credited as "Lieutenant Carter" rather than "Sergeant Carter." He plays a POW who had recently escaped from another camp. He escapes with the help of Hogan and his men, presumably on his way to England.

The pilot also features Vladimir Minsk (played by Leonid Kinskey), a Soviet POW who specializes in tailoring costumes. When the pilot sold, Kinskey was offered a regular part in the series, but turned it down because he felt that the program portrayed the Nazis too lightly. So, obviously, the regular series did not feature the Soviet ally in the camp at all, let alone among Hogan's core crew. However, a Soviet pilot shot down over Germany was brought in by the Underground, and aided in returning east with a clever ruse.

The pilot's other background POW's seem to be from many different (allied) armies - while in the regular series, most of the uniforms and background prisoners all appeared to be Americans.

In the pilot, Klink's secretary was actually part of Hogan's team and had access to the tunnels. In the series, she was merely willing to look the other way in exchange for some nylons or a kiss from Robert Hogan.

The year is also noted as 1942 — in the regular series, the year is never mentioned (as every series wants to run at least 7 years — longer than Americans' involvement in WWII).

(The only dateable episodes contain clues: one episode is set at D-Day, the operation actually known as Operation Overlord, with Hogan undertaking a crucial task to retard the German response. Another episode involves Hogan providing a German with an explosive intended to kill Hitler. One could assume that the six seasons covered events over a two-and-a-half year period from spring 1942 until very early 1945, at which point the Germans were clearly losing.)

Noam Pitlik is in another guest role. He plays a German spy pretending to be a new American POW. He learns the truth about Hogan's operations but Hogan feeds him false information, and tricks him into making a fool of himself. He is thus discredited, and dismissed. Pitlik makes several appearances on the series over the years, each time as a different character.

Hogan's Heroes in the European Parliament?

Hogan’s Heroes was peripherally but bizarrely involved in a political row in July 2003, involving Italian prime minister and media magnate Silvio Berlusconi. Berlusconi was speaking to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, when he was questioned by German Euro-MP Martin Schultz, about ongoing conflicts of interest. The outspoken billionaire lashed out: "Mr Schulz, I know there is a producer in Italy who is making a film on Nazi concentration camps. I will suggest you for the role of commandant. You'd be perfect." Uproar understandably followed, and German chancellor Gerhard Schröder demanded an apology (which was never given, although the two leaders exchanged a frosty phone conversation.) Berlusconi later claimed he was referring to the Sergeant Schulz character from Hogan's Heroes, a series that was broadcast by one of his television channels. "There was a Sergeant Schultz who shouted a lot but in the end was a good sort, people were taking the mickey out of him all the time," Berlusconi said.

Links

Hogan's Heroes Fan Club homepage

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