# Hogan's Heroes Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 17, 2006, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hogans-heroes-question/364860 "2006-07-17T15:28:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2006, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hogans-heroes-question/364860/21 "2006-07-17T21:15:31Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] It aired in the 60s. Shows did not routinely have series finales until much later. There were a few exceptions ( **The Dick Van Dyck Show** had one, though that was pretty much a regular episode with nothing tied up or any resolution), but usually it was expected that a show would continue indefinitely if it had the ratings or be cancelled if it did not. The idea of resolving everything just wouldn’t have occurred to anyone at the time. [/QUOTE] As a matter of fact, TV execs commonly thought that going out with a finale would reduce the chance of a hit show’s successful syndication. As I recall, _The Fugitive_ actually did not do well in syndication. Also, the whole idea of weekly TV shows, either sitcoms or dramas, that actually evolved from season to season just wasn’t popular. Except for some changes in the cast, pretty much every episode of shows like _I Love Lucy, Bonanza, Dennis the Menace, Gunsmoke_, etc. could have run any time during the life of the series. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2006, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hogans-heroes-question/364860/22 "2006-07-17T22:25:14Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] The series never showed the end of the war or the guys getting out of the camp. The last episode was fairly routine and interchangeable with the rest of the series. [/QUOTE] IIRC, though, there was one regular episode where Hogan had convinced everyone at the camp that the war _was_ over. (I think it was the one where you found out Shultz was rich b/c of the toy factory). Klink and Schultz were shaking hands with the POWs, Hogan invited Hochsteter out for a beer, etc. It was kind of a fun episode, especially Hochsteter letting his guard down and whooping it up. I think he lets Hogan borrow his car or something. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Punkyova](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@The\_Punkyova](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Punkyova)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2006, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hogans-heroes-question/364860/23 "2006-07-17T22:34:16Z")
Actually, there is a movie, kind of. It’s called “The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schulz.” Pretty much the whole cast of the TV series is in it, but the characters have different names. It’s set in Germany during the cold war and involves an East German female track and field athlete escaping to West Germany, with “hilarious hi-jinks” all around. I’ve only seen it once, on late night TV many, many years ago, and my recollection is that it’s pretty bad. But it is a kind of Hogan’s Heroes movie. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Punkyova](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@The\_Punkyova](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Punkyova)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2006, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hogans-heroes-question/364860/24 "2006-07-17T22:41:41Z")
Actually, there is a movie, kind of. It’s called [The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schulz](http://imdb.com/title/tt0063805/). Pretty much the whole cast of the TV series is in it, but the characters have different names. It’s set in Germany during the cold war and involves an East German female track and field athlete escaping to West Germany, with “hilarious hi-jinks” all around. I’ve only seen it once, on late night TV many, many years ago, and my recollection is that it’s pretty bad. But it is a kind of Hogan’s Heroes movie. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2006, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hogans-heroes-question/364860/25 "2006-07-17T22:48:47Z")
[QUOTE=shizaru] That could work with only a very very very good cast, crew, screenwriter and director. [/QUOTE] Ewww. Just keep Greg Kinnear out of it. His smirk ruined Autofocus for me. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hogans-heroes-question/364860/26 "2006-07-18T00:50:58Z")
Is it true that the show was a huge hit in Germany? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hogans-heroes-question/364860/27 "2006-07-18T02:06:15Z")
As the question is long answered, I will add this bit of trivia. All 3 principal Germans were played by Jews that escaped Europe before the war. At Werner Klemperer insistence, Klink was never allowed to get the better of Hogan in any episode. I think the French Cook was actually a Holocaust survivor. Like MASH, Hogan’s Heroes lasted longer than the US was in the War. **The Punkyova** : The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schulz was very bad. It had nothing to do with Hogan except the actors and the only Highlight of the film was Elke Sommer in short shorts and other scenes with her only a Towel. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Ceejaytee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ceejaytee/32/2956_2.png) [@Ceejaytee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceejaytee)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hogans-heroes-question/364860/28 "2006-07-18T18:58:55Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] I think the French Cook was actually a Holocaust survivor. [/QUOTE] [Robert Clary](http://www.robertclary.com/bio.html) > [@](#): > > Robert Clary was born in Paris, France, the youngest of 14 children. He began singing professionally at the age of 12. In 1942 Robert and 12 members of his immediate family were deported by the Nazis. Only Robert survived. When he returned to Paris, he was overjoyed to discover that some of his siblings had not been deported and had survived. He wrote an autobiography, [From the Holocaust to Hogan’s Heroes: The Autobiography of Robert Clary](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1568332289/sr=8-1/qid=1153248281/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-9403006-2132169?ie=UTF8). He also played Holocaust survivor Robert LeClair on the soap, Days of Our Lives. If I remember correctly, his character owned a nightclub. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hogans-heroes-question/364860/29 "2006-07-19T00:26:45Z")
[QUOTE=bup] And they did a _fantastic_ job of communicating POW camp without ever _saying_ POW camp, and at the same time communicating it _wasn’t_ a concentration camp (I can just imagine how worried the makers of the movie were about _that_). [/QUOTE] **Chicken Run** strikes me as a parody of a movie we’ve never seen, one that could only have been made in an alternate timeline, one where Britain was overrun by Germany before finally being liberated by the US in 1946. This hypothetical drama depicts the internment of the civilian populace (in gender-segregated camps), their being used as slave labor with execution as the penalty for failing to make quota, the decision by the German high command to turn the labor camps into extermination camps, and the daring escape inspired by the downed American flyer whom the women hid from the Germans. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hogans-heroes-question/364860/30 "2006-07-19T00:46:14Z")
[QUOTE=Ceejaytee] [Robert Clary](http://www.robertclary.com/bio.html) He wrote an autobiography, [From the Holocaust to Hogan’s Heroes: The Autobiography of Robert Clary](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1568332289/sr=8-1/qid=1153248281/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-9403006-2132169?ie=UTF8). He also played Holocaust survivor Robert LeClair on the soap, Days of Our Lives. If I remember correctly, his character owned a nightclub. [/QUOTE] Wow, I never knew all that, just one small snippet of information about him. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2006, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hogans-heroes-question/364860/31 "2006-07-20T19:30:15Z")
[QUOTE=Dooku] IIRC, though, there was one regular episode where Hogan had convinced everyone at the camp that the war _was_ over. (I think it was the one where you found out Shultz was rich b/c of the toy factory). Klink and Schultz were shaking hands with the POWs, Hogan invited Hochsteter out for a beer, etc. It was kind of a fun episode, especially Hochsteter letting his guard down and whooping it up. I think he lets Hogan borrow his car or something. [/QUOTE] Slight tangent: There was also a non-Hogan movie thriller in the 1960s where the Germans try to fool a downed American aviator into thinking that several years have passed, the war is over and he’s to be debriefed by his U.S. superiors, so that he’ll divulge classified info to them. I forget the name, but another Doper will surely remember…? ---
**Author:** ![mamboman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@mamboman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mamboman)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2006, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hogans-heroes-question/364860/32 "2006-07-20T20:00:28Z")
I seem to recall reading a few years back that Mel Gibson was negotiating the rights to a Hogan’s Heroes movie. I personally would love to see a HH movie - it was always a dream of mine that Stanley Kubrick would direct it. I also always wanted to meet Werner Klemperer. I read bios of him and he seems like a really cool guy. mm ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2006, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hogans-heroes-question/364860/33 "2006-07-20T20:08:42Z")
[QUOTE=Malienation] Trivia point: AFAICT, the series was inspired by the excellent movie **Stalag 17**. Catch it on AMC the next time it’s on. You’ll recognize several elements that made it into the series, although the humor is darker and the drama more serious. [/QUOTE] I thought this as well, when I first saw _Stalag 17_ after years of watching _Hogan’s Heroes_ reruns. But according to IMDB: “Stalag 17 was not the inspiration for the TV series “Hogan’s Heroes” (1965), despite the presence of a character called “Sgt. Schultz” and a somewhat put-upon Kommandant. The creators of “Hogan’s Heroes” were sued over this very issue and were victorious.” ---
**Author:** ![thwartme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@thwartme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thwartme)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2006, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hogans-heroes-question/364860/34 "2006-07-20T20:23:46Z")
[QUOTE=Robot Arm] I seem to remember that Spy magazine had a prank, just about the time that TV-show-inspired movies were becoming all the rage, where they called around pretending to be producing a big-screen _Hogan’s Heroes_ movie, to see who they could get to go along with it.. [/QUOTE] I remember that article. It had a neat little logical pitch to it: Spielberg had done “Jurassic Park”, and then Dreamworks followed it up with the Flintstones, a project based on a 60s-era TV show with similar (i.e. Prehistoric) themes. Then Spielberg did “Schindler’s List”, and Spy was suggesting that Dreamworks follow it up with a project based on a 60s TV show with similar themes. Richard Dawson was approached about revisiting his character, and bookending the movie as a sort-of “I remember when…” narrator. His agent said he would love to be involved, but that a much more significant role would be required. Several other Hollywood types were sent treatments and asked for responses, most of whom made vague, non-committal type answers. J.J. Walker was in. No hesitation. Sign 'em up. At the end, the perpetrators of the prank said that they had expected to be laughed out of Hollywood, but that most people saw real merit in the idea. Go figure Hollywood, huh? thwartme ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2006, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hogans-heroes-question/364860/35 "2006-07-20T20:33:05Z")
[QUOTE=bup] Seriously, largely no - there are a lot of references to TGE. But CR is its own story. [/QUOTE] I believe the producers of the film referred to the basic plot during its development as “_The Great Escape_ with chickens,” but this is presumably because the plot was **similar** to that of _The Great Escape_, not a direct ripoff. [QUOTE=thwartme] I remember that article. It had a neat little logical pitch to it: Spielberg had done “Jurassic Park”, and then Dreamworks followed it up with the Flintstones, a project based on a 60s-era TV show with similar (i.e. Prehistoric) themes. [/quote] Dreamworks didn’t exist in 1994. _The Flintstones_ was released by Universal Pictures (which became “Univershell” in Bedrockese), and Spielberg (Spielrock) was one of the film’s producers. ---
**Author:** ![Papermache\_Prince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Papermache\_Prince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Papermache_Prince)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2006, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hogans-heroes-question/364860/36 "2006-07-20T20:46:35Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] Slight tangent: There was also a non-Hogan movie thriller in the 1960s where the Germans try to fool a downed American aviator into thinking that several years have passed, the war is over and he’s to be debriefed by his U.S. superiors, so that he’ll divulge classified info to them. I forget the name, but another Doper will surely remember…? [/QUOTE] As a matter of fact, **snorlax** brought up that movie [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7597804&postcount=20) just today. > [@snorlax](#): > > On a slightly related note, the movie 36 Hours, starring James Garner, deals with a wartime US spy drugged and kidnapped by the Germans prior to D-Day, in order to elicit details of the invasion. He is taken to a facility in Germany designed to look like a Allied military hospital. When he awakes he is told that he has been suffering from amnesia and it is now the early 50’s. In a key scene he is asked a number of questions by an “American” doctor which he is told will test whether his memory is alright. They start off innocently enough but then start to probe his knowledge of the impending D-Day operations. > > I won’t reveal any more for risk of spoiling it but it’s an interesting film. The amount of preparation put in to create the ruse is impressive, such as giving him grey hair and mocking up newspapers and radio stations. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2006, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hogans-heroes-question/364860/37 "2006-07-20T21:00:23Z")
[QUOTE=mamboman] I I also always wanted to meet Werner Klemperer. I read bios of him and he seems like a really cool guy. [/QUOTE] I understand that he was Jewish and agreed to play the part only if Klink never won. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hogans-heroes-question/364860/38 "2006-07-21T02:32:53Z")
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant] I understand that he was Jewish and agreed to play the part only if Klink never won. [/QUOTE] Did you understand that from post #27? 😉 [QUOTE=Mangosteen] Is it true that the show was a huge hit in Germany? [/QUOTE] I just saw this: From what I understand, it was shown in syndication years later in Germany and was indeed a very popular show. [I found this relatively weak link in Wiki to support the idea](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hogan's_Heroes#Later_popularity). Jim ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hogans-heroes-question/364860/39 "2006-07-21T03:17:04Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] Did you understand that from post #27? 😉 [/QUOTE] Ouch. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hogans-heroes-question/364860/40 "2006-07-21T03:37:01Z")
According to [Wikipedia:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hogans_heros) Some of the actors, including Werner Klemperer (Klink), John Banner (Schultz), Robert Clary (the Frenchman LeBeau), and Leon Askin (General Burkhalter) were Jews who had fled the Nazis during World War II. Clary and Banner actually spent time in a Nazi concentration camp. Clary wore long sleeves throughout the series to hide the identification number tattooed on his arm. Leon Askin, real name Leo Aschkenasy, was in a French internment camp. Howard Caine (Hochstetter) was also Jewish. Banner also had to wear long sleeves with his German uniform throughout the series to hide the identification number tattooed on his arm. Perhaps not surprisingly, Banner summed up the paradox of his role by saying, “Who can play Nazis better than us Jews?”. Familiar with the Nazis firsthand, the victims get to make fun of their offenders in the only way they felt they knew how. Also, as far as it running in Germany: Years after its debut, the show became popular in Germany, where it was originally titled Stacheldraht und Fersengeld (“Barbed Wire and Turning Tail”) which was later changed to Ein Käfig voller Helden (“A Cage Full of Heroes”). In response to 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 often bowdlerize that line into something ridiculous, such as “The wheat grows this high”. Gotta love that last bit about the wheat! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hogans-heroes-question/364860.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hogans-heroes-question/364860.md?page=3)