User Reviews

While the notion of General Savage being taken prisoner was a WAY overused plot device during season one, this episode marks the first time he was imprisoned in a German POW camp.

When the episode begins, the General is going to the air with a new crew...one which apparently is a problem crew. Regardless, the plane is soon shot up and the plane loses control...and he and he crew are forced to bail out over German territory.

Soon they arrive at Stalag 12 and the Commandant is proud that no successful escapes have taken place since he took charge. However, the treatment of the General is odd. Instead of lengthy interrogations or putting him in a barracks with the rest of the men, the Commandant gives him his own barracks and lots of special privileges...in order to apparently drive a wedge between him and the other inmates. However, the men see through this and the episode ends with the General planning an escape.

This is a very good episode and is enjoyable...and fortunately the second half is just as good. Well worth seeing.

Solid season ending climax about Savage's POW incarceration. Contains numerous plot elements from prior POW movies. There is James Farentino as a William Holden type hustler ala Stalag 17, also several familiar references from The Great Escape (mass escapes with pickpocketed identification cards and makeshift escape costumes). Also, the Nazi camp commander is a sympathetic Luftwaffe officer with a nasty SS assistant. Filming shifted from Chino Airport to the studio backlot, but POW camp is fairly realistic looking as are the guards and Dobermans. Personal gripe: most haircuts are far out of regulation.