When General Von Kaplow (Henry Corden) arrives at Stalag 13 with a briefcase handcuffed to his wrist, Colonel Hogan and his intelligence and sabotage unit operating covertly from the German prisoner of war camp are immediately intrigued in "Movies Are Your Best Escape," which must manufacture not only a way to get access to the briefcase's contents but then to transmit whatever of value they discover to London in this workmanlike episode that begins to codify the Heroes' operating methods and the series' seriocomic approach.
In his third script for the World War Two service comedy, Laurence Marks overcomes his sophomore slump ("German Bridge Is Falling Down") as his talent for camouflaging his contrivances organically within a solid narrative begins to blossom. To isolate Von Kaplow and lull him off his guard, Hogan arranges a gourmet meal to be prepared by Corporal LeBeau that piques the German general's interest, particularly since Klink's fetching secretary Helga, whom the randy Von Kaplow already fancies, will also attend.
Corporal Newkirk's "accidental" breakage of a glass furnishes his excuse to crawl under the dinner table and thus give himself shielded access to the briefcase still chained to Von Kaplow's wrist, with the light-fingered Limey engineering an amusing gambit to get both Helga, seated next to the general, and Von Kaplow to move their legs. Klink's visiting dignitary had been carrying vital information: battle plans for the Fourth Army Group, which the Heroes duly photograph. But how to get the negatives to London?
The good news is that they have two in-transit British airmen, Flight Lieutenants Ritchie (John Crawford) and Donner (William Christopher), shot down on a reconnaissance mission, who need to return to England. The bad news is that increased German activity outside Stalag 13 makes using the emergency tunnel too dangerous. Thus, the question still remains: how to get the negatives to London?
Here Marks's script for "Best Escape" loses its disguise for the contrivance because Hogan's plan is to convince Klink and his men that Germany is losing the war, an audacious ploy--though hardly the only time the series would use the Big Lie technique--that even requires Newkirk to impersonate Adolf Hitler over the radio in a gleefully over-the-top performance. This enables the two British fliers, disguised as a German military camera team, to pretend to take film footage of Stalag 13 "for the archives" with Hogan discreetly reminding Klink that a positive portrayal of him and his men could inspire leniency by the victorious Allies. But when Klink draws out the filming to capture as much "hospitality" as possible, it enables Von Kaplow to return to the camp and possibly expose Hogan's gambit.
In the first of five "Hogan's Heroes" guest appearances, Corden displays the requisite arrogance and lechery expected of a top German officer to give "Movies Are Your Best Escape" a hint of what Marks would come to increasingly emphasize, namely, that no matter how much hijinks and farce occurs--and this episode has a good deal of both--the Germans were still formidable foes and cannot be completely mocked. With variable accents, Christopher and Crawford hint at British stereotype with cricket references but have little else to do. An encouraging episode that gives you a reason to "keep smiling."
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