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In response to
"I'm fascinated by "Hogan's Heroes" for a number of reasons: 1) It's a comedy set in a Nazi prison camp..."
by
howie
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Well ...
Posted by
zork
Apr 16 '22, 18:04
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2) Klemperer only agreed to do it when he was assured that Klink would never be successful.
Robert Clary actually was in a concentration camp during the war.
General Burkhalter (Leon Askin) had a scar on his face from an old duel. But it wasn't a fake scar just for the show. Leon actually got his scar from being beaten up by the SS just for being Jewish. His birth name was originally Leo Aschkenasy.
3) Early in production planning, it was decided to make it always be winter, with snow on the ground, and frost on the windows. This was to prevent problems with continuity, and to allow the episodes to be shown in any order (it also makes prison life seem bleaker, and being winter adds even more of a menace whenever Klink or Schultz are being threatened with being sent to the Russian front). Since much of the filming was done in the summer, the cast members had to wear coats and act cold, even when the temperature was over ninety degrees Fahrenheit.
For the first several seasons the "snow" on the roofs and on the ground was actually salt. By the fourth season, much of the snow on the roofs had been replaced by patches of white paint. By the sixth season, all the patches of snow on the roofs and many of the patches of snow on the ground, especially in the high traffic areas, were also just paint.
4) Day-for-night was standard being easier and cheaper to film and made scheduling easier.
Did you know that the night scenes in Castaway until he started making fire were day-for-night?
6) Obviously the prisoners would have been speaking German when disguised but that wouldn't be good for American audiences.
7) After Crane and Klemperer, the cast was listed in alphabetical order.
When the show was being cast, Werner Klemperer auditioned for the role of Sergeant Schultz, and John Banner was considered for the role of Commandant Klink. However, after the auditions, it was decided to switch them to their famous roles.
Some other neat facts:
Larry Hovis (Sergeant Andrew Carter) refused to remove his wedding ring for the series. He wore gloves for the majority of his performance (although there were occasions when the ring was visible).
The black and white pilot episode originally included a Russian character, who was played by Leonid Kinskey. Kinksey refused to continue with the series because he became uncomfortable with having Nazi characters starring in a comedy.
Werner Klemperer was the son of famed orchestral conductor Otto Klemperer who conducted the classical music heard in the Beatles movie, Help!
German film distributor KirchGruppe acquired the rights to this show, but did not broadcast it for many years, due to fears that it would offend viewers. It was first broadcast on German television in 1992, but the program failed to connect with viewers. However, after the dialogue was re-written to make the characters look even more foolish (which ensured that the viewers understood the characters were caricatures), the show became successful.
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