How to Escape from a Prison Camp Without Even Trying

Series:	Hogan's Heroes
Episode:	How to Escape from a Prison Camp Without Even Trying
Original Airdate:	March 02, 1968
Production Number:	5784-92
Written by:	Bill Davenport
Directed by:	Edward H. Feldman
Produced by:	Edward H. Feldman & William A. Calihan

Regular

Prisoners

• Colonel Hogan - Bob Crane
• Corporal Louis LeBeau - Robert Clary
• Corporal Peter Newkirk - Richard Dawson
• Sergeant James Kinchloe - Ivan Dixon
• Sergeant Andrew Carter - Larry Hovis

Camp Personnel

• Kommandant Wilhelm Klink - Werner Klemperer
• Sergeant Hans Schultz - John Banner

Semi-Regulars

• General Albert Burkhalter - Leon Askin
• Fräulein Hilda - Sigrid Valdis

Guest Stars

• Colonel Krueger - Willard Sage
• Colonel Nikolas - Edward Knight
• Audrey St. Laurence - Lyn Peters
• Bruno - Chet Stratton
• Sergeant - Tom Hatten
• Corporal - Jay Sheffield

Synopsis

Hogan hides thirty prisoners in order to keep the SS busy while the Allies build reinforcements.

Story Notes

• This is the ninety-second produced episode of the series, but is the eighty-eighth to be shown on television and the twenty-sixth episode shown for the Third Season.
• The episode title is a pun on How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, written by Shepherd Mead in 1952 and later transformed into a successful musical (1961) and feature film (1967).
• The pen Hogan hands Klink at the end of the episode appears to be the same one Carter rigs as a bomb in How to Win Friends and Influence Nazis.
• The French national anthem, La Marseillaise, is mentioned.

Timeline Notes and Speculations

• What few date references exist in this episode are confusing and contradictory. As stated in the story, the 6th SS Division had been forced to fall back in Russia. Its losses were so great that it was being pulled out of the Russian Front and redeployed to Tobruk in North Africa, in the event of a surprise Allied attack. This would seem to imply a 1942 date; however, there are obvious problems. First, our heroes didn't begin operations at Stalag 13 until the last quarter of 1942, leaving a fairly narrow window for 1942 episodes. Second, in real life Tobruk fell to the Germans on June 21, 1942, well before the events depicted in the series. Third, the 6th SS Division (probably the 6th SS Gebirgs Division Nord), didn't leave the Russian Front until 1944. Never at any time was it reassigned to North Africa.
• Another piece of evidence for the date lies in Newkirk and Carter's comments about the cold. That would imply a late fall or winter date.
• Klink has been granted a two week leave. According to Hogan, Klink had never requested a leave of any kind until his first Paris jaunt. Therefore, this episode takes place after "A Tiger Hunt In Paris."
• Given all of the data points mentioned above, a 1943 date is implied - most likely near end of the year. This would also imply that some of German forces in North Africa held out for far longer in the world of the series than they did in real life.

External links

• How to Escape from a Prison Camp Without Even Trying at the Internet Movie Database
• How to Escape from a Prison Camp Without Even Trying episode capsule at Webstalag 13
• The Hofbrau

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Next episode: The Collector General