MovieChat Forums > Hogan's Heroes (1965) Discussion > Hochstetter was the only German I hated ...

Hochstetter was the only German I hated on the show.

posted 9 years ago by kartoon-1
12 replies | jump to latest

Even before I was old enough to understand what the Gestapo was I despised Hochstetter over all the other German characters.

Schultz was a big bumbling teddy bear.
Klink was a fool and a coward and so therefore forgivable.
And General Burkhalter, though unlikable was still just a senior soldier doing his
duty for his country.

But every time Hochstetter showed up I hated his shouting, screaming, foot-stamping, tantrum throwing, swaggering, Napoleon Complex little ass.

I even knew as a little kid that as a Colonel, Klink outranked the Major and yet still knuckled under to this vicious, snapping, barking little beast of a man.

I so much wished they'd done a final episode where Klink (YES, Klink) finally hauls off and slams his fist into that foul little weasels face to the delight of Hogan and his Heroes!

[–] Stevicus-2 9 years ago

Granted, I hated the character of Hochstetter, but I really enjoyed Howard Caine's portrayal of Hochstetter. Some of the scenes with Hochstetter are just hilarious, like when he's getting dancing lessons from LeBeau.

Or any scene where he shouts "Vat is this man doing here!??!"

There was another scene (I can't recall which episode offhand) where Hochstetter is trying to stop a defector from leaving in a car and attempts to shoot out the tires, and the car explodes. The look on Hochstetter's face is priceless.

Hochstetter was only slightly smarter than Klink, and Hogan was usually able to best Hochstetter pretty easily most of the time.

Some of the guest star Germans, though, seemed to have a more serious demeanor and did appear rather evil. Gavin Macleod played a couple of different roles where he was pretty evil and insidious.

[–] archerboy58 9 years ago

I think part of it is, is that Hofstadter was a Nazi. Klink, Schultz, and Burkhalter were German soldiers not Nazis.

[–] trist962 9 years ago

I can appreciate where you're coming from about Hochstetter; and seeing Klink finally being able to deck him IS a satisfying thought (wouldn't have that made a GREAT final episode?!) haha! On the other hand, I agree with Stevicus' post about Howard Caine's outstanding performance--he always came in full of bluster & threat, but usually departed in frustration and failure. AND--he was as much a part of the successes of Hogan's operation as Klink; Hogan was always able to manipulate Hochstetter, and keep him on edge, that Hochstetter would always keep coming back for more "abuse", whereas if Hogan considered him a threat, he could just as easily have him killed off or kidnapped by the underground & sent to London, like so many of the other German officers.

[–] greendahlias 9 years ago

With all that sabotage going on around Stalag 13, Hockstetter could have more easily made Hogan "disappear" in an "escape" never to be seen again.

[–] trist962 9 years ago

Oh, right! The old "Stalag 13 being the center of surrounding sabotage activity"--How many times was that theme repeated throughout the series run? But with Hochstetter, Burkhalter, or whatever visiting hard-nosed Nazi of the week, rolling into camp and bearing down on Klink about it, Hogan always managed to stage a phony escape & re-capture, giving Klink the credit & thus bailing him out by his incompetent a$$, and the "bully-boys" would leave in frustration, until the next episode, when the cycle would start over again! haha!

[–] Tjanssen411 9 years ago

that as a Colonel, Klink outranked the Major and yet still knuckled under

for as many Liberties as the series took, and there were many... the general fear of the Gestapo, regardless of Rank and branch was a fact within the real Reich, and I think a case could be made that this 'Knot' in the chain of command left plenty of weak links to be exploited
- Col. outranks Maj. but Gestapo beats Luftwaffe... and fewest phone calls needed to reach Adolf directly: Trumps Everything

also as noted by others Hochstetter was a Nazi... the other three 'regulars' were simple soldiers, either Implied or expressly stated to have been WWI veterans who were likely conscripted; Schultz even states his Toy Factory was seized; being 'employed' as a Guard was likely his compensation

[–] benfells 8 years ago

it is a comedy they had to take liberties to make it seem real you all are acting like it was a drama

[–] ridgerunner72160-609-362419 8 years ago

But Hochstetter was such a nice guy. On the other hand, he was the kind of fellow who'd take it as an insult to be called a 'nice guy'.

[–] mcfaddensflats 8 years ago

It's notable that when the Gestapo gets really sinister, especially in later episodes, other characters/actors are drafted in as evil SS guy - such as Frank Marth and Joseph Ruskin (in "The Gestapo take over"). I get the sense
with Hochstetter that his bark is worse than his bite, whereas you can believe the characters played by Marth and Ruskin could be utterly brutal.

[–] ridgerunner72160-609-362419 8 years ago

That's true. And there was one gestapo villain in particular who got his comeuppance when Carter put him in his place by pretending to be a big shot in the Luftwaffe. I think the gestappo villain was played by Gavin McLeod. He was a really nasty piece of work. Who'd have ever thought that only a few years later he'd be Mary's co worker on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and then the captain on The Love Boat? LOL

[–] cowgoesmoo 8 years ago

Check out some Hawaii 5-0 reruns (from the 60s, not the present day) if you want to see a slimy Gavin McLeod. He played in a couple episodes early on as a drug dealer named "Big Chicken".

[–] ridgerunner72160-609-362419 8 years ago

LOL...Gavin McLeod is a good actor. He's equally adept at playing characters like Murray Slaughter and Capt. Steubing as drug dealers and gestapo monsters. Hey, I was watching an old rerun of Gomer Pyle awhile back where Gavin was playing the part of a crooked dancing instructor who was ripping off GIs. I almost didn't recognize him with his toupee on.