In many episodes the camera pulls in on a picture of Adolf Hitler with a microphone in front of him, then pulls in closer to show that it is an actual mic which is used by Hogan's men to listen in on Klink's conversations. In this episode the picture falls off the wall showing that there is no mic and no connecting wire.
This actually didn't become the standard hiding place until later in the series. In early episodes, LeBeau would hide in the safe, or one of them would hide in the closet. In one episode, the microphone was hidden in a different wall hanging. First season episodes were aired in a somewhat random fashion, so it's difficult to keep continuity.
This actually didn't become the standard hiding place until later in the series. In early episodes, LeBeau would hide in the safe, or one of them would hide in the closet. In one episode, the microphone was hidden in a different wall hanging. First season episodes were aired in a somewhat random fashion, so it's difficult to keep continuity.
Early in the show, an American bomber is shown flying on a bombing mission. It is a B-17 Flying Fortress. Yet, a moment later in a subsequent clip, the plane actually dropping its bombs is a B-24.
After the men have painted the building pink, Hogan and Klink stand talking. From the front camera angle Hogan's hands either hang down at his sides or are clasped in front of him, but on the back camera angle his hands are on his hips.
For their plan to work the Heroes turn a motorcycle courier into an unwitting suicide bomber.
The Heroes show no concern about the loss of innocent life.
At the evening roll call count, there are 15 prisoners. When they form the lit arrow, there are many more than 15.
When discussing how to make an explosive, Carter says "The easiest thing would be some kind of gas [...] maybe chlorine gas [...] Ammonia would do it, mixed with bleach if we had any." Yes, mixing ammonia with bleach does produce chlorine gas, but chlorine gas is only toxic, not explosive. It is the liquid hydrazine that is only a possible result from the reaction that can explode. The ammonia and bleach have to be mixed in exact proportions in order to produce explosive hydrazine, but because of the chlorine gas produced from the reaction, performing such a mixture in that small laboratory in the tunnel would have killed Carter by chlorine poisoning long before he could produce enough hydrazine to damage the bridge, much less blow it up, even if there had been no accidental explosions in the process.
In many episodes Schultz and other guards are shown carrying Thompson submachine guns. These guns were used by both the British and American troops, but never exported to Germany. The Germans had their own very good submachine gun in 9mm, the Thompson was issued in only .45ACP caliber during its life in the military. In one episode Schultz is shown with a pre-WW1 submachine gun that a collector would drool over today but was never issued to troops even in WW1 because of the delicate nature of the action.
The rifles Schultz and other German soldiers are carrying are not Kar 98 Mausers, but U.S. Army Krag-Jørgensen rifles dating to the Spanish American War. The side loading magazine was only used on these rifles and its Norwegian variant.
The pilots depicted in the opening of the episode are Americans, but the night bombing of Germany was done by the British, with U.S. pilots doing the daytime bombing runs.
Hogan's men form an arrow using cigarette lighters to show the Allied bombers the direction to travel to blow up the bridge; however, the bombers fly so high it would be impossible to see clearly the arrow. It would appear as a tiny speck, too small to be seen from the altitude the bombers fly at.
When Colonel Klink addresses the men at roll call he asks them to take 2 steps forward.
However all the men including Colonel Hogan only take 1 step forward.
UPDATE: This is not an error. After asking the man to step forward, all the men take two steps forward. Schultz says, "Not all of you - back," they take two steps back, Schultz says, "No, that's wrong," and the men all take another two steps forward.
UPDATE: This is not an error. After asking the man to step forward, all the men take two steps forward. Schultz says, "Not all of you - back," they take two steps back, Schultz says, "No, that's wrong," and the men all take another two steps forward.
The motorcycle courier is riding a Harley WLA motorcycle.
In order to dismantle the real reason for the explosions, LeBeau posts a sign outside the Lager, proclaiming a "Blasting Area" for a "New Construction," recommending to "proceed cautiously" - and all in English. During WW II in the heartland of Germany, a warning poster in the language of the enemy would be quite exotic.
When the courier picks up the pouch at Stalag 13, the shadows are quite long, indicating the Sun is low in the sky. When the courier approaches the guard at Sentry Post #9, his shadow is much smaller, indicating it is much earlier in the day.
The map of central Europe, behind Colonel Klink's desk, shows a West and East Germany. Germany was not divided until after World War II was over.
In Hogan's office, after Hogan sends Carter and Kinchloe to set up the 'bomb factory', the camera moves in on Hogan and LeBeau. The shadow of the camera just touches the lampshade on Hogan's desk (lower left of the picture), and the shadow of a crew member shows on the orange pot on the desk (lower right of the picture).
In the scene where the prisoners paint over the building graffiti ("Hess is a mess," etc.), you can clearly see a palm tree in the upper right corner of the shot.
Basing the bomb's timer setting on the calculations using the map, and assuming that the courier travels at a constant rate of 40 MPH is a chancy proposition at best. If Kinchloe assumes the bridge is 1/4 mile long, and the courier is riding at 40 MPH, the courier will be driving across the bridge for a little more than 20 seconds. That is the window of opportunity they have for blowing up the bridge. The first problem is with calculating the distance from Stalag 13 to the Adolph Hitler bridge. If the calculation is off by more than 1/4 mile (or whatever the length of the bridge is), the attempt will fail. Note also that the route to the bridge is not a straight line, so every change in direction (curve, turn, etc.) introduces a potential error factor in calculating the distance. The second problem is the assumption that the courier will travel at a constant 40 MPH for the entire trip. This would be impossible, as every change in direction will cause a change in speed for the driver. The calculation also assumes there is no traffic on the roads, which might cause one or more delays. So, calculating the exact timer setting for the bomb would be virtually impossible.
After Carter is pulled up through the footlocker (from tunnel #3), Hogan wants to blow up the bridge using the German's own ammunition. He shows a chart and lays out how to dig a new tunnel from tunnel #3 to the ammunition room. Carter then says that the last explosion collapsed about 50 feet of tunnel #3. There is no indication of the collapsed tunnel anywhere. There should have been a long hole in the ground where tunnel #3 is (or was) - which should have exposed the whole operation. (The collapsed tunnel could've been situated under a building or underneath an overhead rock formation).
After Carter is pulled up through the footlocker tunnel, Schultz and Langenscheidt come in and make an inspection. After they leave, Hogan says, "We still gotta figure a way to make more ammunition." He would not have referred to 'ammunition' - ammunition would not make any sense when trying to blow up a bridge. He would have said something like, "We still gotta figure a way to get some kind of explosive."