The Flame Grows Higher

Series:	Hogan's Heroes
Episode:	The Flame Grows Higher
Original Airdate:	April 22, 1966
Production Number:	5784-30
Written by:	Laurence Marks, David Chandler & Jack H. Robinson
Directed by:	Howard Morris
Produced by:	Edward H. Feldman & Bernard Fein

Regular

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

• Fraulein Helga - Cynthia Lynn

Guest Stars

• Eva - Susanne Cramer
• Margit - Hannie Landman
• Willy - Charles Radilac
• Jenny - Irene Tedrow
• Gestapo Officer - Todd Martin
• Captain Warren - Jerry Ayres

Synopsis

When a POW is caught at the next processing location, Hogan suspects there is a traitor in the underground. Newkirk and LeBeau joins him to find out where it is.

Story Notes

• This is the thirtieth produced episode of the series, but is the thirty-first episode to be shown on television.

Timeline Notes and Speculations

• A date sometime in 1943 appears to be implied for this episode.
• Newkirk reveals that he has been a prisoner at Stalag 13 for two years ("I'd rather watch one of those girls - it's been two years!"). This would date his arrival at the camp to late 1941, making him one of the first of our heroes to arrive there.
• Newkirk's command of German is tolerable by this point, although it draws a somewhat sarcastic comment from Hogan.
• This is the first time we learn that not all of the rescue operations of our heroes were successful. They lost their first reprocessed airman to the hands of the SS six months before this episode takes place. The second was Captain Warren, two weeks prior to this episode. It is also possible that these captures might have had something to do with the subsequent Gestapo hunt of the underground in Düsseldorf, per Everyone Has a Brother-in-Law.)
• When Hogan is playing Schultz and Klink against each other, he mentions (to Schultz) "...I understand that [the Wehrmacht] has a tank in your size now!" This may be an oblique, if unintentional, reference to the Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus, which was undergoing construction during this time period. The Maus was the largest tank ever built, and only two hulls and one turret were ever made. At more than 200 metric tons, it weighed more than three times that of the modern Abrams M1 main battle tank, which weighs 60.4 metric tons.

Bloopers

• When the Gestapo officer asks Schultz for his name, Schultz gives his serial number as "23789," but when Schultz repeats it for the officer several minutes later, Schultz says "23781."
• When Hogan comes to after the old couple hit him with the chair, they call him "Col Hogan." Then Hogan asks them "how did you know my name" and then says "oh my wallet." But Hogan's jacket clearly has "Col R.E.Hogan" printed right above the pocket.

External links

• The Flame Grows Higher at the Internet Movie Database
• The Flame Grows Higher episode capsule at Webstalag 13
• The Flame Grows Higherepisode on Ein Käfig voller Helden
• The Hofbrau

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Next episode: Request Permission to Escape