Post by Purple Ranger 14 on Apr 18, 2020 17:48:56 GMT -5
A classic sitcom from the sixties. Been watching reruns on Sundance & MeTV.
Hogan's Heroes centers on U.S. Army Air Forces Colonel Robert Hogan and his staff of experts who are prisoners of war (POW) in 1942. The plot occurs in the fictional Stalag 13, located in an unspecified place in Nazi Germany, where the winter season is permanent. One episode, "Anchors Aweigh, Men of Stalag 13" mentions the camp being located 60 miles from the North Sea. Although the nearby town of Hammelburg shares a name with a city in Bavaria, this is coincidental. The group secretly use the camp to conduct Allied espionage and sabotage and to help escaped Allied POWs from other prison camps via a secret network of tunnels that operate under the ineptitude of commandant Colonel Klink and his main Sergeant Schultz. The prisoners cooperate with resistance groups (collectively called "the Underground"), defectors, spies, counterspies, and disloyal officers to accomplish this. They devise schemes such as having Sergeant Andrew Carter visit the camp disguised as Adolf Hitler as a distraction, or rescuing a French Underground agent from Gestapo headquarters in Paris.
Klink technically has a perfect operational record as camp commandant as no prisoners have successfully escaped during his tenure; Hogan and his men assist in maintaining this record so they can continue with their covert operations. Because of Klink's record, and the fact that the Allies would never bomb a POW camp, Stalag 13 appears to be a very secure location. As a result, the Germans often use the camp for high level meetings, to hide important persons and develop secret projects. Klink frequently 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, spies, high-ranking officers, and some of Germany's most sophisticated and secret weapons projects such as the Wunderwaffe and the German nuclear weapons program, of which the prisoners take advantage in their efforts to hinder the German war effort.
Cast:
Bob Crane as Colonel Robert Hogan, the senior ranking POW officer and the leader of the men in the POW camp. He uses his wit and ingenuity in missions to counter the Nazis' battle plans. Crane was offered the role after appearing as "guy next door" types in television shows like The Dick Van Dyke Show and as a regular in The Donna Reed Show.
Werner Klemperer as Colonel Wilhelm Klink, the commandant of the POW camp. He is painfully unaware of Hogan's operation and believes the camp has a perfect escape record under his command. In real life, Klemperer was from a Jewish family (his father was the famous orchestral conductor Otto Klemperer) and found the role to be a "double-edged sword"; his agent initially failed to tell him the role of Klink was intended to be comedic. Klemperer remarked, "I had one qualification when I took the job: if they ever wrote a segment whereby Colonel Klink would come out the hero, I would leave the show."
John Banner as Sergeant Hans Schultz, the camp's Sergeant at Arms. He is a clumsy and inept, but extremely affable man who often gives out information to the prisoners for bribes, often LeBeau's gourmet cooking. Banner was born to Jewish parents and was in fact a sergeant during World War II, but in the U.S. Army.
Robert Clary as Corporal Louis LeBeau, a gourmet chef, and patriotic Frenchman. He has trained the guard dogs to be friendly towards the prisoners and uses their kennels as tunnels to bring their allies into. Clary is Jewish in real life and was deported to a Nazi concentration camp but survived by using his talent in singing and dancing in shows. Clary said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, "Singing, entertaining, and being in kind of good health at my age, that's why I survived. I was very immature and young and not really fully realizing what situation I was involved with ... I don't know if I would have survived if I really knew that."
Richard Dawson as Corporal Peter Newkirk, the group's conman, magician, pick-pocket, card sharp, forger, bookie, tailor, lock picker, and safe cracker. He is a skilled tailor and is in charge of making uniforms for POWs impersonating high ranking German officials. Dawson's role as a military prisoner in the film King Rat was reportedly the reason for his spot in Hogan's Heroes.
Ivan Dixon as Sergeant James Kinchloe, the man responsible for contacting the underground by electronic communications [he was an aircrew radioman]. "Kinch" also acted as Hogan's second-in-command (although technically outranked by Carter). Kinchloe usually uses Morse code, telephones, and a coffee pot radio to receive and transmit messages. Casting Dixon, or any African-American actor as a positively-shown supporting character, was a major step for a television show in the mid-1960s. Dixon left the show prior to the final season and was replaced by Kenneth Washington as Sgt. Richard Baker, another African-American character but with a less leading role.
Larry Hovis as Sergeant Andrew Carter, a bombardier who is an expert in chemistry, explosives, and demolitions. He is in charge of making and producing chemicals, and explosive devices in order to thwart the Nazis' plans. Hovis was discovered by Richard Linke, the producer of The Andy Griffith Show, and was a recurring character on Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. before landing the role of Sergeant Carter.
Cool Factoid: Bob Crane, who played Hogan, met & married his wife during the show's production. They got married on set and Richard Dawson, who played Newkirk, served as the Best Man.
Overview
Hogan's Heroes centers on U.S. Army Air Forces Colonel Robert Hogan and his staff of experts who are prisoners of war (POW) in 1942. The plot occurs in the fictional Stalag 13, located in an unspecified place in Nazi Germany, where the winter season is permanent. One episode, "Anchors Aweigh, Men of Stalag 13" mentions the camp being located 60 miles from the North Sea. Although the nearby town of Hammelburg shares a name with a city in Bavaria, this is coincidental. The group secretly use the camp to conduct Allied espionage and sabotage and to help escaped Allied POWs from other prison camps via a secret network of tunnels that operate under the ineptitude of commandant Colonel Klink and his main Sergeant Schultz. The prisoners cooperate with resistance groups (collectively called "the Underground"), defectors, spies, counterspies, and disloyal officers to accomplish this. They devise schemes such as having Sergeant Andrew Carter visit the camp disguised as Adolf Hitler as a distraction, or rescuing a French Underground agent from Gestapo headquarters in Paris.
Klink technically has a perfect operational record as camp commandant as no prisoners have successfully escaped during his tenure; Hogan and his men assist in maintaining this record so they can continue with their covert operations. Because of Klink's record, and the fact that the Allies would never bomb a POW camp, Stalag 13 appears to be a very secure location. As a result, the Germans often use the camp for high level meetings, to hide important persons and develop secret projects. Klink frequently 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, spies, high-ranking officers, and some of Germany's most sophisticated and secret weapons projects such as the Wunderwaffe and the German nuclear weapons program, of which the prisoners take advantage in their efforts to hinder the German war effort.
Cast:
Bob Crane as Colonel Robert Hogan, the senior ranking POW officer and the leader of the men in the POW camp. He uses his wit and ingenuity in missions to counter the Nazis' battle plans. Crane was offered the role after appearing as "guy next door" types in television shows like The Dick Van Dyke Show and as a regular in The Donna Reed Show.
Werner Klemperer as Colonel Wilhelm Klink, the commandant of the POW camp. He is painfully unaware of Hogan's operation and believes the camp has a perfect escape record under his command. In real life, Klemperer was from a Jewish family (his father was the famous orchestral conductor Otto Klemperer) and found the role to be a "double-edged sword"; his agent initially failed to tell him the role of Klink was intended to be comedic. Klemperer remarked, "I had one qualification when I took the job: if they ever wrote a segment whereby Colonel Klink would come out the hero, I would leave the show."
John Banner as Sergeant Hans Schultz, the camp's Sergeant at Arms. He is a clumsy and inept, but extremely affable man who often gives out information to the prisoners for bribes, often LeBeau's gourmet cooking. Banner was born to Jewish parents and was in fact a sergeant during World War II, but in the U.S. Army.
Robert Clary as Corporal Louis LeBeau, a gourmet chef, and patriotic Frenchman. He has trained the guard dogs to be friendly towards the prisoners and uses their kennels as tunnels to bring their allies into. Clary is Jewish in real life and was deported to a Nazi concentration camp but survived by using his talent in singing and dancing in shows. Clary said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, "Singing, entertaining, and being in kind of good health at my age, that's why I survived. I was very immature and young and not really fully realizing what situation I was involved with ... I don't know if I would have survived if I really knew that."
Richard Dawson as Corporal Peter Newkirk, the group's conman, magician, pick-pocket, card sharp, forger, bookie, tailor, lock picker, and safe cracker. He is a skilled tailor and is in charge of making uniforms for POWs impersonating high ranking German officials. Dawson's role as a military prisoner in the film King Rat was reportedly the reason for his spot in Hogan's Heroes.
Ivan Dixon as Sergeant James Kinchloe, the man responsible for contacting the underground by electronic communications [he was an aircrew radioman]. "Kinch" also acted as Hogan's second-in-command (although technically outranked by Carter). Kinchloe usually uses Morse code, telephones, and a coffee pot radio to receive and transmit messages. Casting Dixon, or any African-American actor as a positively-shown supporting character, was a major step for a television show in the mid-1960s. Dixon left the show prior to the final season and was replaced by Kenneth Washington as Sgt. Richard Baker, another African-American character but with a less leading role.
Larry Hovis as Sergeant Andrew Carter, a bombardier who is an expert in chemistry, explosives, and demolitions. He is in charge of making and producing chemicals, and explosive devices in order to thwart the Nazis' plans. Hovis was discovered by Richard Linke, the producer of The Andy Griffith Show, and was a recurring character on Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. before landing the role of Sergeant Carter.
Cool Factoid: Bob Crane, who played Hogan, met & married his wife during the show's production. They got married on set and Richard Dawson, who played Newkirk, served as the Best Man.