Why did Colonel Klink have to take orders from Major Hochsteder? Doesn’t Klink outrank him?
Major Hochsteder was Gestapo.
Klink had rank, but Hochsteder was acting in the name of his organisation.
And, Hochsteder could have made Klink… unhappy.
Major Hochsteder was Gestapo.
Bosda is right. Even General Burkhalter was wary of Major Hochstetter.
Klink could have pulled rank on Hochstetter, but then he would have ended up on the Russian front.
My Hogan’s Heroes question is:
How in the name of the Lord did that show get green lighted? I’m not arguing whether it was good or not or funny, but initially, some producer had to walk into an office and say:
I’ve got a great idea for a show…it’s a comedy version of Stalag 17, Nazis! Internment Camps! The Nazis are fun lovable teddy bears! It’s gold, baby, gold!
jarbaby
IIRC the germans complained about it. And of course you know about Robert Clary and Klink’s actor.
I recall reading a few years ago about how they were introducing the show in Germany. They made completely farsical (sp?). Every time a German did the “Heil” salute, the dubbing had them saying “The sunflowers grow this high.” Sorry I don’t have a cite.
BTW, I knew that Werner Klemperer’s family escaped from Germany in the 30’s and that his contract with the production company said that the Germans could never come out on top. What is the deal with Robert Clary
When it was dubbed, the Germans loved it. I remember it in the paper. They could laugh at their stupid past.
Btw, remember when Hogan had Klink play “into the wild blue yonder”? Klink Werner Klemperer was (RIP) a concert violinist, and led a German or Austrian orchestra after the show ended.
I heard that Werner Klemperer the world-famed conductor was the FATHER of the actor who played Klink, not the actor who played Klink himself.
Otto Klemperer was the renowned composer/conductor. His son, Werner, played Col. Klink. Werner was an accomplished musician in his own right. BTW, during the early 90’s, Hogan’s Heroes was the number 1 rated syndicated television show in Germany.
Robert Clary was in a concentration camp as a child.
And just for personal statement
Werner was beloved by a lot of people and looked back with relish on his Klink years. Someone I knew told me he met him one day in his later years and he could still do the “Hooooogan!” like he had stopped playing Klink yesterday.
A fine actor and good human being
And John Banner, who played Sgt. Schultz, fled Austria after the Nazis took it over.
jarbabyj wrote:
According to a commercial I saw on TV Land last week, the creators of the show originally set it in a civilian prison; they changed it to a POW camp to make the prisoners more sympathetic characters. No mention was made of Stalag 17.
Sheesh. Then if I was the author of Stalag 17, I’d sue them for everything they had.
jarbaby