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[trbeliever]

I'm looking for information about the Combat! edisode where Saunders gets caught behind enemy lines in a German uniform.

[CrazyAboutTV]

First, for additional information about the Combat! series, visit our page at:

http://www.crazyabouttv.com/combat.html

Now, the episode you're asking about was titled, "Odyssey" and it originally aired on April 20, 1965.

He got around the language problem by pretending that he had been shell-shocked during battle and couldn't speak.

Saunders got the uniform from a dead German corporal. Amazingly, the uniform appeared to be tailored to his size and it had no blood on it or bullet holes!

In addition to the main cast members, the episode co-starred:

Bert Freed as Sergeant Weber
Teno Pollick as Private First Class Loring
Peter Coe as an Orderly
Sasha Hardin as an S.S. Lieutenant
Paul Werner as a German Teenage Soldier
Bing Russel as Gaines
Maurice Marsac as a French Peasant
Ivan Triesault as a Doctor
Larry Billman as Reiter
Marika Monti as a French Peasant
Robert Donner as an American GI
Vince Barbi as another German Guard
Otto Reichow as a German Guard
Eric Forst as a German Lineman

The script was written by Anthony Wilson.

It was one of my favorite episodes!

[Guest]

Thanks. That sounds like it, except for the date. I was a motor pool driver at Ft. MacArthur Army Hospital in San Pedro, CA from June of '66 until June of '67. I drove one of the doctors to an address on Hollywood Blvd. where we picked up two retired officers (one Air Force and one Army). They directed me up behind Griffith Park Observatory where I found myself on the set of Combat!, which was the one TV show every week that filled up the dayroom at my barracks. Vic Morrow was dressed in a German uniform and explained his situation--behind enemy lines in a German uniform, injured, waking up in a German hospital having been given Scopolamine, which can act like a "truth serum." Morrow wanted to confirm all that and ask how he would act when waking--dry mouth, etc. We watch them film a scene where was behind a log and rounds were going off. His stunt double was there. Then we went to several long rows of picnic tables and ate lunch with the crew. Vic morrow was the only regular cast member there. This was one of the thrills of my young life

Although I tried never to miss the show, I never saw this episode.

[misterg]

must have been more than one episode that fits the description, huh!

[TikiMan]

where was this great series filmed, most in one big set or on location in ??? thanks for any info. Tiki Out

[CrazyAboutTV]

Like most series, Combat was mostly filmed in southern California. Most of the outdoor scenes were not filmed on a stage, the indoor scenes were.

Some of the outdoor scenes showing French cities, cathedrals, etc. were filmed on location in Loire, France.

Combat was a great series! If you're into war stories and can get over the black and white film, it's still entertaining today!

Thank you for your inquiry!

[spacemonkee5]

[truefan]

The episode you are referring to is "Gantlet." Saunders gets captured and escapes with Tom Skerrit (I don't recall his character name). Skerrit was against the escape being perfectly happy to spend the rest of the war in a POW camp, but he escaped nontheless. The end up changing into German uniforms in order to be able to travel easier toward their own lines. In an encounter with a squad of Germans, shots are fired and Saunders is wounded. Skerrit, rather than assist Saunders heads out on his own leaving the wounded Sgt. to fend for himself. Saunders is found by another group of Germans and sent to an aid station, where, to avoid having to talk, moans and groans in pain and they give him morphine.

Eventually he, still in a German uniform, is saved by British troops and after receiving medical aid is sent to wait with other American troops who have become separated from their units. When the Sgt. walks into the tent to get some coffee and wait for his ride back to his unit, who is there talking about his miraculous escape and return but Tom Skerrit. Imagine his shock when Saunders walks in. They have a brief confrontation where Skerrit tells Saunders it will be his word against his and the Sgt's reply is a swift slap in the face. Then he cooly walks to the truck to get his ride as Skerrit rubs his face.

[truefan]

The show Gantlet aired during the last season in color.

[Big Mike]

I recently discovered Combat reruns on the Ameican Life channel, the self-proclaimed "network for baby boomers".

I just watched Episode 40: "Glow Against the Sky" (11/5/63) from the series play list. It proported to guest star baseball's all-time winningest left-handed pitcher, Waren Spahn.

Although I was only 9 at the time the show aired, I thought I would recognize the southpaw from my knowledge of baseball history, but he never seemed to have a role in the episode; the cast seemed to be just the regulars and the "krauts". I had assumed that Spahn would have some more-prominent, probably-speaking role as a GI. When it became obvious that there was not going to be any "guest GI", I studied the "krauts" that appeared but he didn't seem to be amongst them either.

I replayed the show and, riddle me this: is Spahn the "kraut" that is only momentarily portrayed basically staring into the camera (supposedly scouting a village for US occupiers) in a close-up at the very end of the intro-scene (right before the opening credits) and then again very briefly when they return for "the first act" ? As I recall, Warren possessed a prominent probiscous, and that "kraut" certainly did likewise.

So my question is "Where's Warren ?" and did he have any speaking lines in the episode ?

Do you know why he did the (apparent) cameo ? [ fan of the show, buddy of the producer , ???? ]

Is Warren still alive ? Did he ever do any other acting ?


PS I had forgotten that the show had the "krauts" actually speak German rather than accomodating the viewing audience by having them speak English. I find it amazing that they scripted all that dialogue-time in a language that the watcher couldn't understand, only kind of get the "gist" of based upon the circumstances of the scene. But I think it was a great move; by speaking in that strange, foreign tongue it seems to make the Nazi's more alien, ominous and scary/threatening. It's human nature to be afraid of things we don't understand and the German-speak technique evidenced to the American public of the time, less than 20 years removed from the catostrophic world conflict, what the GI's must have been feeling way over there in that strange environment versus these seeming cut-throat savages (perhaps not unlike early Americans that confronted the almost-animal-like native Indians that spoke unintelligible gobbledygook). [ Episode 40, with Saunders men trapped in that cellar in a Nazi-occupied village, was already uneasingly claustrophobic, but with the German-speaking "aliens"/"krauts" breathing down their necks the tension was palpable ....... Hitchcock musta loved that week's episode ! ]

[CrazyAboutTV]

Warren Spahn pitched in the World Series for the Braves in 1948, 1957, and 1958. He also threw two no-hitters, won 3 ERA titles, appeared in 14 All-Star games, holds the National League record for career home runs by a pitcher with 35, and (you're correct) is the winningest left-handed pitcher in baseball history.

Spahn received a Purple Heart and the Bronze Star for bravery while serving in the Army during World War II. He was installed in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973, which was the first year he was eligible.

Sadly, Warren died in 2003 at age 82 of natural causes.

He appeared on "Combat" in episode #40, "Glow Against the Sky", which was originally broadcast on November 5, 1963. He played the part of a German Soldier and was not listed in the credits. It's unlikely it was a speaking role.

He also appeared once on Ed Sullivan's series, "Toast of the Town" as a celebrity guest (as himself) and two more times after that series' title was changed to, "The Ed Sullivan Show".