John Banner and Werner Klemperer were both actors who starred in "Hogan's Heroes"....they also were both Jews who fled Nazi Germany and in some ways it must have been satisfying parodying this awful empire in the show. But this wasn't the first time the pair starred in the same show, as both appear in "Safe Conduct", an "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" episode starring Claire Trevor (from such great films as "Stagecoach" and "Key Largo").
Mary Prescott (Trevor) is an American journalist who has been behind the Iron Curtain interviewing the president of some communist country. However, she ends up being duped into smuggling...and a staged investigation occurs. Obviously, these officials want to create some sort of international incident. Is there any hope for the lady or is she gulag-bound?
This episode is clearly a sign of the times. Things were very tense with the Soviet-bloc nations and this came just a few years after the Red Scare of the late 40s and early 50s. As such, it really didn't fit into the style of programs on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents". It also had a very long and talky finale. All in all, well made but a huge disappointment....only worth seeing in order to see Klemperer and Banner.
Mary Prescott (Trevor) is an American journalist who has been behind the Iron Curtain interviewing the president of some communist country. However, she ends up being duped into smuggling...and a staged investigation occurs. Obviously, these officials want to create some sort of international incident. Is there any hope for the lady or is she gulag-bound?
This episode is clearly a sign of the times. Things were very tense with the Soviet-bloc nations and this came just a few years after the Red Scare of the late 40s and early 50s. As such, it really didn't fit into the style of programs on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents". It also had a very long and talky finale. All in all, well made but a huge disappointment....only worth seeing in order to see Klemperer and Banner.