Hogan's Heroes (TV Series) A Tiger Hunt in Paris: Part 2 (1966) User Reviews

Not a fan of two part episodes- but this is an exception

[kfo9494 · 9/10 · 24 September 2014]

Not being a fan of two part sitcom episodes, I have to say that this story was entertaining from beginning to end.

From the first part everything is in order to complete the program. An underground agent named Tiger is being held by the Gestapo, Hogan has teamed up with a Russian spy and Klink is still trying to find his staff car all in the city of Paris.

As we begin part two, Marya (Nita Talbot) the Russian spy is serving as a fortune-teller to the main Gestapo officer, Colonel Backscheider (John Dehner). Marya tells the Colonel that a important visitor is coming soon. Hogan, who is taking on the identity of a former prisoner, comes up with a plan so that the Colonel thinks that Himmler is the special person.

With the help from a doorman that will act like Himmler, Hogan may be able to gain enough access to free the underground agent. Plus he also has to find the whereabouts of an secret air base in Germany. Not to mention getting Klink out of the Gestapo jail and retuning his car.

This was an excellent story. We were able to get away from the prison camp which opened many doors for a new plot and situations. Nita Talbot is excellent as the White Russian spy that will make many appearances as the series continues. Also the character actor, John Dehner does a nice comic job of playing the Gestapo Colonel. Mr Dehner is seen in many shows in the 60's but it was nice to see the actor in a comedy role which he played to perfection.

As already stated I am not usually a fan of sitcoms that extent the story out in two parts. I will make an exception in this entertaining story.

Screwball comedy in Paris

[FlushingCaps · 8/10 · 19 May 2020]

This review serves for both parts of this 2-part episode. Hogan learns that their female French underground agent "Tiger" has been captured by the Gestapo and is being held prisoner in Paris just after Colonel Klink has told everyone about his vacation he is taking to Paris. Of course, Hogan takes LeBeau to Paris to somehow try to free Tiger. Sgt. Schultz is driving Klink and he learns before leaving camp that the pair are hiding with the baggage atop Klink's staff car.

They arrive in Paris and immediately Hogan and LeBeau take the staff car, telling Schultz to tell Klink (who was checking into their hotel) that the Gestapo commandeered the car. Hogan gets his own room and happily welcomes the Gestapo office, Col. Backscheider (well played by John Dehner) to the room, telling him he is an escaped POW from Stalag 13 now operating on the black market, with plans to help the colonel make a fortune.

He gets a chance to talk with Tiger but has trouble coming up with a plan to get her away. He learns of a White Russian agent who might help. This is our introduction to Marya (Nita Talbot) who in her appearances on the series seems to cause more trouble for Hogan than Col. Crittendon. She comes up with her own ideas that don't seem to help at all and Hogan has to work with whatever she comes up with to get out of the mess.

The episode is sort of like a 1930s screwball comedy with all sorts of crazy happenings including a clumsy performance by a would-be Himmler (Henry Corden) who needs help responding to the Nazis in German, not his native Russian-at one point he says "Da" for yes, quickly switching to "Ya" and later speaks of the Czar by mistake.

All the while Klink is being held prisoner by the Gestapo for most of his vacation, and he keeps thinking he sees Hogan and LeBeau wherever he goes in Paris. He can't wait to get back to camp.

The dramatic part here was more illogical than usual, but a bit hair-raising as our heroes barely get away in time. The comedy overall was pretty good.

The biggest plot hole was called to our attention when a phone call from Hogan to the stalag has Newkirk telling him that security is so tight they now have 3 bed checks a night. This prompts us to ask how the absence of LeBeau and the senior POW Hogan is explained. It isn't on the show.

My biggest gripe is an ongoing one whenever the Russian Marya appears. At first meeting, LeBeau somehow decides he's in love with her and no matter how much she makes their lives difficult, he babbles to Hogan how much he believes and trusts her and he keeps interrupting Hogan's serious questioning about the important matters to ask her why she allowed the German to kiss her hand, and other such nonsense. In other episodes, the heroes have reason to believe she is selling them out but Louis defends her without question as though he has known her for years, when in fact, he's never done more than converse with her for a few minutes.

I might have only given this one a 6 out of 10, but I bumped it up thanks to two great pratfalls by the Himmler impersonator right after walking right into a heavy metal object on leaving the cell where Tiger was being held. So I gave it an 8.

Falling Back on Tired Farce

[darryl-tahirali · 6/10 · 21 March 2022]

What a shame. After such a compelling first part, filled with danger and intrigue and laced with laughs, Richard Powell falls back on the tired, obvious farce that marks his "Hogan's Heroes" scripts overall for Part Two of "A Tiger Hunt in Paris," which exposes all of Powell's logical flaws and broad characterizations that can be overlooked in an absorbing narrative--but not in his recycled routines that make this second half of a two-part story such a disappointment.

Having teamed up with a mysterious, not entirely trustworthy White Russian, Marya (Nita Talbot), who has the ear--and a lot more besides--of Gestapo Colonel Backscheider (John Dehner), Colonel Hogan and Corporal LeBeau attempt to rescue Tiger (Arlene Martel), a top leader in the underground, from Backscheider's high-security jail in Paris before she is tortured into revealing damaging secrets--not least the existence of Hogan's covert intelligence operation being run from a German prisoner-of-war camp, Stalag 13.

Indeed, Hogan and LeBeau hitched a clandestine ride to Paris atop the staff car of Stalag 13 commandant Colonel Klink, in the French capital for a week of relaxing leave, only to have Hogan and LeBeau steal his car while he ultimately winds up in Backscheider's jail accused of being Tiger's accomplice.

If you think that strains credulity--after all, wouldn't someone back at Stalag 13 notice the senior POW officer missing for a week, particularly when Sergeant Kinchloe tells Hogan that "Captain Gruber," Stalag 13's pro tempore commandant, is, unlike Klink, actually competent?--wait until you see what Hogan and Marya have served up to get Tiger out of the Gestapo's clutches.

The strong performances that rescued Powell's conceits and failings in Part One have weakened in the second half. Talbot, simply brilliant in the first half, is still reliable, although in time Marya would descend into caricature even if the ambiguity remained. However, Dehner, his Backscheider backsliding into Nazi-stooge caricature, is just collecting the paycheck now while Martel, never given anything to do other than cower in a jail cell, exists only to, predictably, fall into Bob Crane's arms in gratitude. That's a Powell trademark, having every woman within range of Hogan throw herself at him, and he even devises a way to have Marya make out with him too.

Worst of all, though, is Henry Corden, an experienced, delightful character actor who gets to portray Heinrich Himmler, the head of the dreaded Gestapo and SS, as a slapstick fool, the ham that Hogan and Marya have served up to spring Tiger. Granted, his character is a comrade of Marya merely masquerading as Himmler, and Corden's practiced pratfalls can still elicit laughs, but they underscore Powell's reliance on silliness to disguise his subpar plotting.

That includes the "secret German fighter bases" that seemingly launched the entire premise, which don't even rise to the level of a MacGuffin because if the characters don't even care about them, then why should we? "A Tiger Hunt in Paris" begins with great promise but, like Klink, returns from Paris disillusioned and unfulfilled.

Funny 2 parter, until...

[pmike-11312 · 3/10 · 13 July 2022]

This 2 part story had lots of laughs and antics from the heroes (and Klink and Schultz). Unfortunately, it was ruined by the always-awful NinaTalbot and her completely annoying Marya character. I really hate any episode which includes her.