Anchors Aweigh, Men of Stalag 13 - S1-E16
Revealing mistake: When the "Boat" is loaded on a "trailer", you can see that it has very little ground clearance. The wheels of the "trailer" actually are hidden behind the boards like on a parade wagon. The boat has no keel and no hull below its freeboard. Besides the question of how the boat got onto the trailer if it is practically built around it, there remains the question of how it is supposed to stay afloat without a keel or a bottom.
Factual error: Burkhalter refers to Jesse Owens winning the gold medals in the Berlin Olympics, and that Hitler left the stadium every time Owens was to be presented a medal. Truth was, Hitler left the stadium when another black man won the day before, and didn't snub Owens at all. In fact, Hitler wasn't in attendance the days Owens won.
Continuity mistake: When the man and woman from the underground meet Hogan at the Hoffbrau, they're taking off their outer coats. The man takes off a dark brown coat and drops it. Hogan picks it up, hands it to the guy who hangs it up. The man removes his dark brown overcoat revealing a tan coat. The next shot, he"s taking off the dark brown coat again, hangs it up and goes for beer.
Character mistake: In several scenes all over the show (though not always!), characters use the command "Raus!" to send somebody away from somewhere. Raus, short for "heraus" literally means "out" in the sense of "out of a building", which would be "aus einem Gebäude heraus" in German. Used as a command, it always means "get out", never "get away from there" or "get lost", in other words, the addressee must be inside of somewhere to be ordered "Raus." One example would be Schultz sending the prisoners away from general Burkhalter's car in S05E13.
Revealing mistake: During the main part of the plot, the guys are putting dynamite on each truck in the convoy as they fuel up at Stalag 13. It is supposed to be dark, (hence the reason the boys wear black) but there are shadows as if it were day. It's impossible for the driver in the following truck and the guard in The Tower to miss seeing the boys as they go back and forth to plant charges.
I Look Better in Basic Black - S1-E28
Factual error: When the SS guard is calling Sergeant Shultz after seeing the burning fuse, he addresses Shultz as "Sergeant", rather than the proper German word for Shultz's rank, "Feldwebel."
Suggested correction: "Hogan's Heroes" is an American television show produced for an English speaking audience. The whole show is shot in English! Did you expect Schultz and Klink to speak German and LeBeau to speak French?
I have seen MANY instances in the show where German characters are speaking actual German phrases (many quite accurately, by the way) and ranks of fellow German soldiers. When the German characters are addressing English-speaking characters in this American-made show, you do expect them to speak German-accented English, however, when German-speaking characters speak German to each other, one expects them to use the proper address and vernacular Germans would use and not mix in other languages. In this case, the SS guard did not know a lick of English when he was questioning some prisoners who were out their barracks, but addresses Sergeant Schultz as "Sergeant" rather than "Feldwebel." Furthermore, why aren't little things like buckets of water used in the show are labeled, "Water" rather than the German "Wasser"? Why isn't the list of rules tacked onto the barracks say "Forbidden" rather than "Verboten"?
The point is that when German characters are speaking to each other, it is assumed by the audience that they are speaking German and we are hearing an English translation for our convenience. In the world of the show, they are using the German term, but we hear the English equivalent.
Character mistake: During the opening scene of every episode, Klink comes out of his office and salutes. Then it cuts to Sgt. Shultz who then salutes. The superior officer never salutes first, it's a sign of respect of rank. There is one exception for this in the American military where if the soldier is a Medal Of Honor recipient, the superior officer will usually salute first but is not required to.
Factual error: Eva Braun, Hitler's mistress, is mentioned many times, but nobody outside of Hitler's circle of friends knew about Eva at the time.
Man's Best Friend Is Not His Dog - S4-E6
Factual error: When Hogan heads into Klink's flower bed to get the dog, you can see a modern steel water tank in the distance.
Two Nazis for the Price of One - S3-E17
Visible crew/equipment: A string is seen attached to Colonel Klink's cap that is used to yank off the cap after Colonel Mannheim fires his pistol at Klink.
How to Win Friends and Influence Nazis - S3-E7
Deliberate mistake: Burkhalter pulls some papers out of his bags marked "Top Secret." Why would German papers be marked in English, so the prisoners know what not to look at?
Visible crew/equipment: As Burkhalter is talking to Strauss and Klink in front of the office door, you can see the shadow of the boom mic moving over each as they talk.
Klink for the Defense - S6-E19
Factual error: About 8 minutes into show, Major Hochstetter asks Schultz how long Colonel Hogan (an American) has been running the camp, and Schultz says 3 years last November. This is impossible. The US didn't get into the war until December, 1941, He would have to have been captured November '42 or earlier but the war was over by November 1945.
Suggested correction: Not necessarily. Quite a few Americans served with the RAF before America declared war. The Eagle Squadron American volunteers fought at the Battle of Britain in 1940 for example.
Happy Birthday, Dear Hogan - S4-E26
Plot hole: In the cinema, Hogan and his female underground contact avoid attention from a passing plain clothes policeman by kissing. This is wrong for three reasons. Firstly, 3rd Reich Germany wasn't so liberal that open kissing in the cinema would have passed as normal, it would probably rather have been viewed as libertine and offensive. Secondly, the scene takes place with a speech of Hitler as the background, which can hardly be viewed as romantic, and thirdly, this is even more true for the Gestapo, who was tasked with ratting out political dissent. To a Gestapo officer, ignoring the Führer's speech and kissing instead would make them stand out doubly.
Factual error: The guard outside Klink's office and the two Gestapo soldiers guarding the gold truck have MP38/40 and a Thompson submachine gun, but carry rifle ammunition pouches instead of the long ammo pouches that carried the 30-round magazines used by the MP38/40.
Visible crew/equipment: As Hogan, Le Beau, Kinch, and Schultz talk at the car, the boom mic is reflected in the chrome and on the hood.
Watch the Trains Go By - S4-E19
Visible crew/equipment: As Carter and Newkirk are caught by the wire, the shadow of the camera pulling back is seen on the ground.
The Safecracker Suite - S1-E27
Continuity mistake: As Günther leaves the room, Klink touches his forehead and begins to sit down (or his knees are buckling, not relevant). After the next cut, he sinks down into a chair in a closeup. That same chair was behind Hogan before the cut.
Suggested correction: It doesn't take much research to debunk this claim. Also, John Banner, the actor that most often used the term in the show, was German-born and raised. I'm sure he would have spoken up if it were wrong.
Sorry, what is the "not much" it takes to debunk that claim? By the way John Banner was not born and raised in Germany but in what was then Hungary-Austria. I, on the other hand, AM German born and raised, so if you think you know more about my native tongue than me, by all means, educate me. As for why it wasn't corrected, my guess is this: Words like raus, schnell, was ist los, bitte or danke are rather well known even in the US, so the audience would be able to follow the dialog.
Doc ★
Sorry, John Banner was born in Poland. He was not German.
Kevin l Habershaw ★
He was born in 1910 in the city once known as Stanislau, prior to being annexed by Poland in 1919. At the time of his birth, it was part of Austria-Hungary, and one of the official languages was German.
Bishop73
You're correct. I didn't read the IMDb page enough.
Kevin l Habershaw ★