Rom-com misdirection animates "Cupid Comes to Stalag 13" along with fraternal bonding of a sort between camp commandant Colonel Wilhelm Klink and senior POW officer Colonel Robert Hogan as Phil Sharp's lively script spotlights the wonderful character actor Kathleen Freeman in the first of her four appearances on "Hogan's Heroes," all playing Gertrude Linkmeyer, the frumpy battle-axe sister of General Burkhalter.
Poor Klink. Unhappy about how his military career is proceeding, he's taken to prowling the camp grounds late at night, which stymies the Heroes' attempt to facilitate the escape of Captain Ferguson (George Tyne), who, living it up in the tunnels beneath Hogan's barracks, might not be in a hurry to leave, anyway. Klink confides to Hogan his problems, which are exacerbated when Burkhalter arrives to lecture Klink on his career as well while urging him to get married as a path to advancement. And when Burkhalter returns to Stalag 13 with Gertrude and her fetching daughter Lottie (Inger Stratton) in tow--well, you can see the misdirection coming, can't you?
Yes, Klink is immediately smitten with nubile blonde Lottie, particularly as he assumes that Burkhalter wants him to marry this "goddess," but unsure how to court her, he turns again to Hogan for advice on pitching woo. However, once Lottie describes Klink privately as a "dead fish"--twice--comic misunderstandings are sure to follow.
Bob Crane and Werner Klemperer continue to click as frenemies, each seeking advantage from the other in a relationship that favors Klink even as he is needier than Hogan, which gives him the upper hand--at least until Hogan realizes that Lottie is not intended to be Klink's intended. Stratton is serviceable in her catalyst function, but Freeman commands every scene she's in, her prickly dynamics with Klemperer justifying her return engagements.
Poor Klink. Unhappy about how his military career is proceeding, he's taken to prowling the camp grounds late at night, which stymies the Heroes' attempt to facilitate the escape of Captain Ferguson (George Tyne), who, living it up in the tunnels beneath Hogan's barracks, might not be in a hurry to leave, anyway. Klink confides to Hogan his problems, which are exacerbated when Burkhalter arrives to lecture Klink on his career as well while urging him to get married as a path to advancement. And when Burkhalter returns to Stalag 13 with Gertrude and her fetching daughter Lottie (Inger Stratton) in tow--well, you can see the misdirection coming, can't you?
Yes, Klink is immediately smitten with nubile blonde Lottie, particularly as he assumes that Burkhalter wants him to marry this "goddess," but unsure how to court her, he turns again to Hogan for advice on pitching woo. However, once Lottie describes Klink privately as a "dead fish"--twice--comic misunderstandings are sure to follow.
Bob Crane and Werner Klemperer continue to click as frenemies, each seeking advantage from the other in a relationship that favors Klink even as he is needier than Hogan, which gives him the upper hand--at least until Hogan realizes that Lottie is not intended to be Klink's intended. Stratton is serviceable in her catalyst function, but Freeman commands every scene she's in, her prickly dynamics with Klemperer justifying her return engagements.
