Paramount Home Video presents

Hogan's Heroes: The Complete Fifth Season (1969/1970)

Col. Wilhelm Klink: In all the time that you've been here, how many men have escaped?
Col. Hogan: None.
Klink: Exactly! Face it Hogan, for you and your men, this war is over.
Hogan: That is good news! We'll pack and leave in the morning.- Werner Klemperer, Bob Crane

Stars: Bob Crane, Werner Klemperer, John Banner, Richard Dawson, Larry Hovis, Ivan Dixon, Robert Clary, Leon Askin, Howard Caine, Sigrid Valdis
Other Stars: Alan Oppenheimer, Michael Fox, Nita Talbot, Eric Morris, Bruce Kirby, Ben Wright, Ned Wertimer, Noam Pitlik, Arlene Martel, Harold J. Stone, Parley Baer, Ronald Long, John Stephenson, Dick Wilson, Victoria Carroll, Edward Knight, Norbert Schiller, Marg Dusay, Bernard Fox
Director: various

MPAA Rating: Not Rated for (nothing objectionable)
Run Time: 11h:01m:36s
Release Date: 2006-12-19
Genre: television

Style Grade	Substance Grade	Image Transfer Grade	Audio Transfer Grade	Extras Grade
A	A-	A	A+	D

 

DVD Review

It is not that uncommon for a comedy series to begin to get stale by its fifth season, but such is not the case with Hogan's Heroes, which manages to remain as fresh and entertaining as its first four seasons. The formula is consistent, with Hogan (Bob Crane) and his men continuously outwitting their German captors while carrying out a their covert espionage assignments in conjunction with London and the local resistance groups. Despite the best efforts of Stalag 13's not-so-clever commandant Klink (William Klemperer), the ever present General Burkhalter (Leon Askin) or Gestapo's Major Hochstetter (Howard Caine), nothing is safe from the allies when Hogan and company are around.

The fifth season kicks off when Hogan Goes Hollywood by using a captured American actor as the communication link in a German propaganda film. The ending to this one provides a text book Hogan style "if you can't do it yourself, get the enemy to do it for you" recipe. There's a secret Luftwaffe codebook up for grabs, but while stealing it goes off without a hitch, when Newkirk is forced to dispose of it during a snap inspection, retrieving it from The Well becomes a greater challenge.

"They don't suspect a thing."—Newkirk

The Germans believe that their new fuel depot just outside the fence of Stalag 13 will be safe from Allied attack, but little do they know that plans are being hatched inside the wire to stop the convoy making its inaugural fill up (The Gasoline War). Two can play that game when an Allied agent is captured, and Hogan decides that Burkhalter's sister would make a good hostage for an Unfair Exchange of prisoners. After being used as a communication mule and caught with Hogan's planted information, The Kommandant Dies at Dawn unless Hogan can find a way to save Klink from a Gestapo firing squad. Hogan and company are after the blueprints for a new weapon in Bombsite, and have to figure out a way to steal an incriminating photo that a Gestapo officer is using to blackmail Klink (The Big Picture).

Hogan and his men a charged with securing a secret device (The Big Gamble) that was on board a plane shot down near camp before the Germans discover it among the wreckage, and Gretchen shows up with a traitorous field marshall, with Hochstetter hot on the trail of The Defector. Diversions are in order in the quest for the contents of a courier's briefcase, and The Empty Parachute Hogan has planted in camp should be just the thing to send the Germans on a wild goose chase. Hogan has a new scheme for diseminating information when he convinces Klink that he has a valuable cuckoo clock in The Antique. Is There a Traitor in the House?— the Germans think so when they bring in an attractive radio broadcaster as a propaganda tool, and Hogan's men are all too willing to talk. For the man who generally has little to say, At Last—Schultz Knows Something and it's up to Hogan to extract the location of a secret atomic plant from the tight-lipped sergeant in charge of guarding it. Klink gets a surprise anniversary party as part of a weather forecasting scheme (How's the Weather?), then it's time for Klink to Get Fit or go Fight to avoid a trip to the Russian front.

Col. Klink: "General Burkhalter, what a pleasant surprise."
Gen. Burkhalter: "Surprise? Yes. Pleasant? No!"

In one of the standout episodes this season Marya entices Schultz to pose as Reich Marshall Goering in Fat Hermann, go Home interfering with Hogan's plans to return a trainload of stolen paintings to London. Kinch takes to the ring against a German prize fighter as a ruse to cover Hogan's plans for heist (The Softer They Fall) then Lebeau becomes a seamstress for Burkhalter's neice in Gowns by Yvette while Hogan plots to get a defector out of the country. Larry Hovis takes the spotlight when Carter is caught in a German uniform, and convinces his captors that he is one of them (One Army at a Time), then it's Standing Room Only when an officer tries to sabotage Klink over his bookkeeping, and Hogan has to balance the ledger. It takes Six Lessons from Madame LaGrange to keep the gestapo from arresting the local Allied agents, and Schultz is headed for a colder climate when Burkhalter catches him napping on the job (The Sergeant's Analyst), just before he can unknowingly deliver the final piece of a map of the Western front. After camp security is doubled following a tunnel collapse, Hogan sets ladies man Klink up with a female agent, The Merry Widow, to get a vital microfilm delivered, but pans don't go quite as expected. Bernard Fox returns as Colonel Crittendon, this time on a mission to capture Rommel, but Crittendon's Commandoes are captured after parachuting into camp. After a string of escapes from other POW camps, Hogan convinces Klink he is about to uncover the operation in Klink's Escape.

Even more than the stories themselves, like any successful sitcom, Hogan's Heroes is all about the characters and the perfect chemistry they have together. The cast continues to provide wonderful performances, which a great writing team exploits to full advantage with dozens of hilarious situations. This is another stellar collection that Hogan fans won't want to miss.

Rating for Style: A
Rating for Substance: A-

 

Image Transfer

	One
Aspect Ratio	1.33:1 - Full Frame
Original Aspect Ratio	yes
Anamorphic	no

Image Transfer Review: Paramount has once again delivered an excellent transfer. Fine grain is naturally rendered, the image is crisp and detailed with well saturated color, solid blacks and is free of any major defects.

Image Transfer Grade: A
 

Audio Transfer

	Language	Remote Access
Mono	English	no

Audio Transfer Review: Mono audio is clean with no defects to speak of. Dialogue is clear and easy to discern. No complaints in this department.

Audio Transfer Grade: A+ 

Disc Extras

Full Motion menu with music
Scene Access with 156 cues and remote access
Packaging: Thinpak
Picture Disc
4 Discs
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: dual

Extras Review: Unfortunately, there are no extras other than trailers for Paramounts classic comedy DVD lineup and MacGyver, which can be found on the first disc. There are the six chapter stops per episode, including one immediately following the opening credits.

The set once again comes in a box with four Thinpak cases inside. Each contains an episode synopsis and the original airdate.

Extras Grade: D
 

Final Comments

From Schultz donning a wedding dress to Klink and Schultz swapping places, Hogan's Heroes remains as hilarious and entertaining as ever in its fifth season. If you liked the first four, you'd be a dumbkoff to pass on this one.

Jeff Ulmer 2007-06-22