Hogan's Heroes (TV Series) Will the Real Adolf Please Stand Up? (1966) User Reviews

This episode needed something

[kfo9494 · 7/10 · 5 July 2014]

This is the episode that Carter first dressed up like Hitler (a part he will play many times throughout the series) giving him more of a part other than the explosive expert. Even though the disguise would not have fooled anyone, for the sake of the show, it appears all was taken in my the trimmed lip hair and the loud talking. And the somewhat small reason that Carter assumed the costume was that they needed to get some important information to the allies.

For whatever reason this episode seemed to use the prop of impersonating Hitler without much more going on in the story. It was such a small matter that when the episode ends the viewer is unsure why the lampoon was needed in the first place. Larry Hovis was nice in the part but just could not carry interest the entire show.

There are at least two real funny lines in the episode. When General Burkhalter is going to introduce himself to Hitler then the overheard conversation makes him change his mind. Plus, at the end, when Schultz tells Hogan what he can say in a letter to Hitler-- both are funny stuff.

Larry Hovis steals show as Hitler

[FlushingCaps · 10/10 · 20 May 2020]

This one begins with the appearance that we are joining this one in progress. Hogan is dressed like a German officer, and Newkirk, LeBeau, Carter and Kinch are all set to sneak out the tunnel with a mission all planned.

A pretty female underground agent (are there any other kind?) is set on a nearby road to stop an expected German officer's car. He is carrying important papers the Heroes plan to photograph and deliver to the Allies. Hogan's men take over a small tavern, tying up the two men who run it. The girl gets the officer to walk her from her car while his driver repairs her vehicle.

At the tavern, the men, posing as the tavern workers, ascertain that the valuable papers are in his coat and after Hogan enters as another German officer, he helps his men sneak the coat away long enough to photograph the papers.

The main plot comes next-figuring a way to get the pictures to the Allies after Klink has doubled the guards after hearing about escape attempts from nearby prison camps. They can't use the usual tunnels. Carter, doing a silly impression of Hitler gives Hogan the idea that his talent there could pay off.

Although none of his men can sneak out to deliver the film, they outfit three other prisoners in German uniforms, get a car and, with Carter-dressed as the Fuhrer-drive it near the gate during a changing of the guard and trick the new guards into thinking it has just arrived at the camp with the four men, making a surprise visit of Adolf Hitler to Stalag 13.

Carter gets carried away saying outrageous things as Hitler, first to Schultz, then to Klink. Hogan gets out of the barracks and Carter goes to talk with the top POW in camp, privately. Hogan tells him to quit going for an Academy Award and get out of there quickly, as ordered. Too late, it appears. General Burkhalter (who knows Hitler well and would not be fooled) has suddenly ridden into camp.

Carter saves the day, going into a rant about troublesome generals, one overweight one in particular, loudly enough so that General Burkhalter retreats quickly to avoid seeing the Fuhrer at a bad time. So Carter and the others ride out of camp and, (unseen by us viewers) deliver the goods.

This was a very funny episode, and I also enjoyed the staging of the coat switch at the tavern to obtain the papers in the first place. On that basis, a 10 seems fair, largely because Carter was quite funny in his ranting.

I also note that Gomer Pyle's fellow Marine Lester Hummel (William Christopher, better known as Fr. Mulcahy on MASH) and Marine Base Commander Col. Edward Gray (Forrest Compton) were featured in this episode. Gawwllleee! Of course, Larry Hovis appeared as a fellow Marine named Larry in 11 episodes of Gomer's series.

"Hogan's Heroes" Uber Alles

[darryl-tahirali · 10/10 · 22 March 2022]

The perfectly constructed and executed "Will the Real Adolf Hitler Please Stand Up?" straddles the apexes of realism and (ahem) escapism, gravity and absurdity, that "Hogan's Heroes" was capable of thanks to Laurence Marks, whose brilliant script scales the heights of audacity and hilarity while nevertheless remaining grounded in plausibility--even if the crucial linchpin in the operation requires the impersonation of none other than Adolf Hitler.

Hogan's Heroes, the intelligence and sabotage unit under Colonel Hogan, embark on an important mission: Intercepting a German officer, Major Krantz (Forrest Compton), carrying plans for German defensive installations at English Channel ports, vital information the Allies need if they are to attempt an operation such as the actual June 1944 Normandy invasion.

The caper, involving underground agent Christina (Bonnie Jones) and the temporary takeover of a local tavern, goes smoothly, with Sergeant Kinchloe photographing the plans surreptitiously lifted from Krantz and returned to him without his noticing. However, the Heroes must abort their rendezvous the following night to pass the photographs to an underground courier when the courier is stopped by the stepped-up patrols outside Stalag 13 ordered by camp commandant Colonel Klink.

Recent escape attempts at nearby stalags prompted this increased security by Klink, aware also that General Burkhalter, Hitler's staff officer overseeing the Luft-stalag system, will visit shortly to inspect security. But when Hogan tries to alert Klink to a bogus escape plan, hoping it will persuade Klink to draw off the guards from outside the wire, Klink sees through Hogan's ploy and orders even more stringent measures. This is critical because it demonstrates that Klink is not simply a comical buffoon, and with director Gene Reynolds assuredly framing the scene, Bob Crane and especially Werner Klemperer, given the chance to display his dramatic chops, deliver compelling performances.

So, how can Hogan deliver this vital information? Sergeant Carter's impromptu Hitler imitation at first irritates Hogan, then inspires him: Why not have Klink think der Fuehrer has made a brief visit to Stalag 13, with Carter, as Hitler, then leaving with the information? This is a master stroke by Marks. After all, Hitler and the Nazis came to power, and stayed in power, through the Big Lie technique: the bigger the lie, the more likely it is to be believed--because something that outrageous must be true, right? (Just ask Donald Trump.) All goes well until Carter begins to showboat, prompting Hogan to go out with the hook, but then Burkhalter does arrive, certain to see through Carter's disguise. Can the Heroes still pull this crazy stunt off?

"Hogan's Heroes" was rife with outlandishness, but rather than use it merely for its farcical value, Marks employs it in service to the seriousness and desperation Hogan faces in trying to convey crucial information to Allied command (a point another reviewer missed completely). Marks and Reynolds would later take this approach with them to "M*A*S*H" (with actors Jones and bit-parter William Christopher joining them), but for now they, along with the spotlight on Larry Hovis, deliver one of the greatest "Hogan's Heroes" episodes.