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Long before Hogan’s Heroes came to TV in 1965, there was Stalag 17. It's
sitcom versus straight drama. And Hogan’s Heroes was a much better production. While Stalag 17 attempted to portray prisoners of war as being just as involved in the war effort as the troops on the front lines, the producers of Hogan’s
Heroes realized that was just plain silly. Hogan’s Heroes took the
Stalag 17 concept to its ludicrous extreme and was a better show to
boot.
In Stalag 17, the POW camp commandant was comical. He seemed more like a
character straight out of Saturday Night Live than a real-life Nazi. His
menacing, insinuating monotone was a parody of German commandants.
Also, the prisoners were rather more upbeat than might have been
expected. Obviously, they had to keep their spirits up in order to
survive, but they just didn’t seem very unhappy about being in a prison
camp. This is a movie about wartime prisoners that treats being held by
the Germans as being no different than being in a public school --
though with the slight possibility that the students might be shot
during escape attempts. The characters simply lack depth.
The whole idea that the Germans would put a “spy” inside an American POW
camp comprised of sergeants is ludicrous. Even worse is the idea that
the Germans would get one of their own to immigrate to America pre-war
to enlist in the U.S. Army and get himself captured so that he could
serve the Fatherland as a spy in a POW camp. This movie is stupid, not
to mention very predictable.
My father was a World War II soldier, and while he was never in a POW
camp, he knew many guys who were. My father thought Stalag 17 was
absolute trash and an insult to all POWs. He liked Hogan’s Heroes as
that show made no pretense of being realistic about what prison camp
was like.
What former POWs have said about what it was really like to be in a POW
camp showed Stalag 17's utter lack of basis in reality. The reality of
staying alive under hardship without proper food, clothing, or medical
attention -- not to mention sadistic guards -- should have been material
for a great movie.
sitcom versus straight drama. And Hogan’s Heroes was a much better production. While Stalag 17 attempted to portray prisoners of war as being just as involved in the war effort as the troops on the front lines, the producers of Hogan’s
Heroes realized that was just plain silly. Hogan’s Heroes took the
Stalag 17 concept to its ludicrous extreme and was a better show to
boot.
In Stalag 17, the POW camp commandant was comical. He seemed more like a
character straight out of Saturday Night Live than a real-life Nazi. His
menacing, insinuating monotone was a parody of German commandants.
Also, the prisoners were rather more upbeat than might have been
expected. Obviously, they had to keep their spirits up in order to
survive, but they just didn’t seem very unhappy about being in a prison
camp. This is a movie about wartime prisoners that treats being held by
the Germans as being no different than being in a public school --
though with the slight possibility that the students might be shot
during escape attempts. The characters simply lack depth.
The whole idea that the Germans would put a “spy” inside an American POW
camp comprised of sergeants is ludicrous. Even worse is the idea that
the Germans would get one of their own to immigrate to America pre-war
to enlist in the U.S. Army and get himself captured so that he could
serve the Fatherland as a spy in a POW camp. This movie is stupid, not
to mention very predictable.
My father was a World War II soldier, and while he was never in a POW
camp, he knew many guys who were. My father thought Stalag 17 was
absolute trash and an insult to all POWs. He liked Hogan’s Heroes as
that show made no pretense of being realistic about what prison camp
was like.
What former POWs have said about what it was really like to be in a POW
camp showed Stalag 17's utter lack of basis in reality. The reality of
staying alive under hardship without proper food, clothing, or medical
attention -- not to mention sadistic guards -- should have been material
for a great movie.
