The Big Picture

Prisoners

 * Colonel Hogan - Bob Crane
 * Corporal Louis LeBeau - Robert Clary
 * Corporal Peter Newkirk - Richard Dawson
 * Sergeant James Kinchloe - Ivan Dixon
 * Sergeant Andrew Carter - Larry Hovis

Camp Personnel

 * Kommandant Wilhelm Klink - Werner Klemperer
 * Sergeant Hans Schultz - John Banner

Semi-Regulars

 * Fräulein Hilda - Sigrid Valdis

Guest Stars

 * Captain Bohrmann - Sandy Kenyon
 * Hotel Clerk - Diana Chesney

Synopsis
Hogan plans to steal the picture that a Gestapo officer is blackmailing Klink with.

Plot Details:

The episode opens with Hogan and Klink in Klink's office, discussing a job that the kommandant wants done around the camp. The area in question needs to be cleared of trees and brush, and Klink wants the prisoners to do the job. Klink assures Hogan that Berlin has authorised payment of ten pfennigs an hour for each worker. Hogan snidely suggests that Berlin has actually authorised 25 pfennigs an hour, but Klink will be keeping 15 for himself. Their conversation is interrupted by Hilda who announces the arrival of a Captain Bohrmann. Klink tells her that he is busy, but changes his mind when he hears that Bohrmann is from the Gestapo. Klink dismisses Hogan (who straightens a picture of Hitler on the way out) and welcomes Borhmann into the office. Bohrmann tells Klink that he is assigned to the Dusseldorf office of the Gestapo, but he is living in nearby town of Hammelburg, at the hotel in room 209. The conversation (which the Heroes are listening to on their coffee pot receiver) turns to the recent assassination attempt on Hitler. Bohrmann mentions that the conspirators in the plot are still being rounded up, and that a very important one was apprehended recently. Bohrmann searched this important conspirator's house himself and found a photo and negative. The picture is of Klink and General Mullendorf, who Klink cheerfully calls one of his old friends. Bohrmann immediately suggests that Klink might also be part of the conspiracy, causing Klink to retract his previous statement that Mullendorf and he were friends. Bohrmann however points out that Klink was best man at Mullendorf's wedding and then gets to "the problem." The problem, as Bohrmann puts it, is that if he hands the negative in to the Gestapo, the innocent Klink might be executed. But if he destroys the negative or gives it to Klink, he wouldn't be doing his duty. He then demands Klink pay his hotel bill and hand over a thousand Reichsmarks while he considers the matter. Klink fearfully agrees to get the money out of the safe. Hogan discusses the matter with Kinch, LeBeau and Newkirk. Bohrmann will likely take Klink for all he has and then execute him anyway to cover the matter up. Since they need Klink in order to continue their operations, they resolve to save him.

A week later, as the prisoners are returning from the work detail, Hogan asks Klink when the men will be paid. Klink tells him that they will be paid when the paymaster arrives from Berlin. Klink soon leaves the camp and Schultz tells Hogan that the paymaster arrived the day before yesterday. Schultz asks if there's any "monkey business" going on with the pay, and Hogan tells him to ask Klink the next time he sees him.

Later that night the Heroes are fuming about the situation at hand. Not only is Bohrmann robbing Klink blind, but now the prisoners are suffering for two reasons: their pay is being skimmed to fund Borhmann's blackmail, and the job will soon be called off when the skimming is caught, curtailing the Heroes ability to leave the camp for their operations. LeBeau sarcastically suggests they go into town and ask Bohrmann to give the picture to them, and Hogan agrees. He asks Kinch if he has the floor plan to the local hotel which Kinch provides. Hogan suggests that if they could book the room next to Bohrmann's then they might be able to steal the negative. Hogan declares that they will do the deed tomorrow night.

The next night comes and Hogan and Newkirk, armed and dressed in suits, leave the camp via the emergency tunnel. They arrive at the hotel and (under the guise of German officers) bribe the receptionist into giving them room 210. When they get to the room, Newkirk picks the adjacent door to Bohrmann's room, and oils the hinges so they don't squeak. Hogan then instructs Newkirk to set off a smoke bomb in the hallway, which Newkirk does, causing Bohrmann to get out of bed and grab a leather case from his bedside table. Newkirk quickly re-enters room 210 and Hogan tells him that the negative must be in the case. When Newkirk can't dispose of the smoke bomb, Hogan jokingly comments that he feels they won't be able to win the war.

Some time later, Klink is listening to a complaint from Schultz who is only receiving half his pay (another cause of Bohrmann's blackmail). Klink tries to get Schultz off his back by appealing to his patriotism, and when that fails, suggesting that Schultz might become a kommandant of a prison camp one day if he looks the other way. Schultz honestly quips that he doesn't want to be a kommandant, before hastily stating he'd rather be a sergeant, before leaving. The heavyset sergeant quickly confers with Hogan and asks whether he should sue the Luftwaffe for the rest of his pay. Hogan advises him not to, lest he end up transferred to the Russian Front. The hapless sergeant fears what his wife will do to him when he sends her only half of what she normally receives. Hogan suggests the prisoners could take up a collection for him, which Schultz declines. But he does ask Hogan for a loan, which Hogan agrees to give with no interest. However Hogan does whisper a request into Schultz' ear, which Schultz agrees to do when Hogan threatens to take back the lent money. Hogan goes into the barracks and tells the Heroes that he has arranged with Schultz for the prisoners to work the farms outside the camp for extra food. The Heroes will slip away for a few hours and steal the negative while Bohrmann isn't there. Their plans are soon interrupted by Schultz, who has decided he would rather pay interest than let the prisoners work the farms. Hogan tells him that "a deal's a deal" and Schultz replies "a wife's a wife." Hogan tells Schultz that he didn't have to marry her, prompting Schultz to ask where Hogan was before he got married.

The next day, the prisoners fall out for the work detail. But Klink stops them and declares that the men cannot work since "the pay has not arrived yet." Hogan offers to have his men work on credit, which Klink says touches his heart, but he cannot agree to the deal. Hogan, desperate not to lose their opportunity, offers for the men to work for free, but Klink declines. The project will be cancelled until the financial situation is cleared up. As the men are dismissed, Hogan tells the Heroes that he will go out at night and steal the negative while Bohrmann is in his room. Hogan volunteers LeBeau to accompany him and Newkirk for the caper.

That night, Hogan and Newkirk retrieve the key to room 210 from the hotel receptionist (while LeBeau sneaks past her). As they enter the room, Newkirk picks the adjacent door again and Hogan tries to nab the case while Bohrmann is in the bathroom. Hogan quickly runs back into room 210 when he hears Bohrmann leaving the bathroom, and with little choice in the matter, the three Heroes decide to wait until their quarry is asleep. After some time, Newkirk and LeBeau douse their suits in schnapps and start a loud, seemingly drunken argument outside Bohrmann's door. Bohrmann tries to intervene and the two Heroes drag Bohrmann away from the room, giving Hogan enough time to retrieve the negative from a secret compartment in the leather case and return to room 210. Newkirk and LeBeau apologise for the argument and they and Hogan leave.

The next day as Klink is opening the camp mail, Hogan answers Klink's summons and the two discuss the work that needs to be done outside the camp. Klink is willing to reconsider Hogan's offer to work for free, but Hogan declares that offer to have expired and now the men want 25 pfennigs an hour for their work. Klink practically begs Hogan after saying that Berlin is sending an inspector to oversee the work and that he doesn't have the money to pay for it all. As Klink opens a letter he finds the negative and a note saying "merry Christmas from a friend." Realising that his troubles with Bohrmann are over, Klink assumes his stern Prussian manner and declares that the men will work for 10 pfennigs an hour, his final offer. Hogan asks what has happened that made Klink so stern and the Prussian kommandant declares he has friends who are willing to help them and Hogan is not one of them. Klink happily dismisses Hogan and burns the negative.

That night as Newkirk is beating the Heroes at poker, Schultz enters the barracks. He rounds on the Heroes for gambling (as it is against regulations) and gives Hogan the money he owes him as he has been paid in full. Newkirk takes money from Schultz in payment of a blackjack debt Schultz owed him, and LeBeau takes his share in payment for a strudel he cooked for Schultz. Kinch asks Schultz if he wants to play poker, but with very little money left, the hapless sergeant asks Hogan for a loan. Hogan declines, since gambling is against regulations, leaving Schultz bewildered.

Story notes

 * This is the one hundred and twentieth episode of the series, but is the one hundred and twenty-sixth episode shown on television and the eighth episode shown for the Fifth Season.
 * SS Major Bohrmann works out of the Dusseldorf office.
 * "Oberfuhrer Hoganmann" = Brigadier General Hogan.
 * Schultz has a leave coming up. He mentions it to Hogan when discussing the fact that Klink only gave him half his pay. He also mentions that Frau Schultz was going to be very mad about the pay situation.
 * "RFD Germany" is a sidewise reference to RFD Mayberry, filmed on the flip side of the lot where the Hogan's Heroes exterior sets were located. RFD is an American postal term that stands for "rural free delivery." It is also a sideways reference to the CBS TV show Mayberry R.F.D., which ran from September 1968 to March, 1971.

Timeline Notes and Speculations

 * This takes place shortly after the failed assassination attempt on Hitler ("Operation Briefcase"), perhaps at the end of August 1944 or as late as September. The attempt is directly referenced, and the roundup of the conspirators by the SS is still underway.
 * One of those arrested in the anti-Hitler plot is General Mullendorf, an old friend of Klink's. They had gone to the same schools together for ten years, and Klink was the best man at Mullendorf's wedding.
 * More than 7000 poeple were arrested as part of the 20 July plot, the picture would almost certainly have been enough to implicate Klink in the eyes of the Gestapo.

Bloopers

 * The Hauserhof Hotel is represented by stock footage of the Grindelwald Palace. It has what appears to be a Swiss flag above the entrance. A postwar car is visible to the right.
 * When Hogan and Newkirk first go to the hotel, Newkirk takes off the topcoat and they leave without him putting it on again. On their next visit, this time with LeBeau, he is wearing the coat again.