Didja Notice?

Indy receives a new intelligence assignment: go behind enemy lines in Germany to contact airplane manufacturer Anthony Fokker and convince him to defect to the Allies. As stated here in the episode, Fokker (1890-1939) was a Dutch aviation design pioneer and the founder of the aircraft manufacturer Fokker which existed from 1912-1996.

Indy's alias in his undercover assignment is Fritz Diefenbaker, the manager of a small dye factory outside Berlin. His main stop in Germany is the city of Hannover.

The character of Francois is played by Anthony Daniels, best known for his role as C-3PO in the Star Wars franchise.

Maurice tells Indy that Fokker spends most of his time at his aircraft factory near Berlin. But, as far as I can tell, his factory at this time was in Schwerin, over 120 miles from Berlin. Maurice also tells him Fokker will be on an inspection tour of Ahlhorn naval base in a couple of days; but the real world Ahlhorn was an air base for zeppelins at the time.

Maurice informs Indy that Fokker will be staying overnight for one night at the Hotel Franz Josef in Hannover. As far as I can tell, this is a fictitious hotel. The name is likely meant to honor Franz Joseph I of Austria, the emperor of Austria and the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1848-1916.

Indy's password when meeting up with his contact Max at the hotel is "It's a long way from Le Havre." Le Havre is a port city in France.

The bus that takes Indy to the end of Moulin Roulet at 57:18 on the DVD is a 1930 Praga AN Bus. Moulin Roulet is an actual road in the southeast of France.

What might at first appear to be antennas on the farm house at 57:46 on the DVD (this would be unlikely in 1917, as radio programming did not gain commercial popularity until about 1920) may be lightning rods.

Indy's pilot to fly him into Germany turns out to be Charles Nungesser, whom he met in "Attack of the Hawkmen", a real world pilot figure of the war.

Nungesser's speech to Indy that "one must always be willing to improvise, to just take what you've been given, add some imagination to it and just charge ahead, full throttle and no brakes," sounds pretty close to how we will see Indy operate as an adult in his globe-trotting archaeological adventures. Recall that we already heard Frederick Selous tell Indy in "The Phantom Train of Doom", "He who survives is he who thinks on his feet," (to which Indy retorted, "Oh, make it up as you go. Oh, boy, that's great advice.").

When Indy is told he must parachute out of the plane in order to get into Germany, he first balks, but then accepts what he must do, muttering, "I've got a bad feeling about this." This line is also heard throughout George Lucas' Star Wars saga.

On the way to Germany in their airplane, Nungesser tells Indy that after the war he wants to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, which had never been done before. He actually did make this attempt with navigator François Coli in 1927, but they disappeared and were presumed to have gone down somewhere over the North Atlantic (though some later theories postulate he made it to North America and crashed in the woods of Maine). Two weeks after the Nungesser attempt, American pilot Charles Lindbergh successfully completed a transatlantic flight in the opposite direction, from New York to Paris.

Before Indy bales out of the airplane, Nungesser points out the Kruppstein ruins outside of Hannover below, where he will pick up Indy that night. As far as I can tell, the Kruppstein ruins are fictitious.

The aerial view of Hannover is actually the town of Český Krumlov, south of Prague, Czech Republic.

Nungesser has Indy parachute out of the plane straight over and into Hannover in broad daylight. That doesn't seem very wise for an infiltration operation. Indy should have parachuted over a field outside of town (preferably at night).

Indy's parachute landing takes place next to the St. Charles Bridge in Prague, standing in for Hannover.

After landing, Indy hides the discarded parachute by removing a manhole cover and shoving the chute and pack down the hole, then replacing the cover. Manhole covers often weigh well over 100 pounds and are difficult for one person to move, especially without a pry bar.

1:03:35 on the DVD indicates that Indy has landed on Ricklingen Strasse (Street) in Hannover. This seems to be a fictitious street, but there is a borough of Hannover called Ricklingen.

The conversation Indy has with the Hannover policeman in German translates as:

Policeman: Hey there! Who are you? What are you doing here?

Indy: My name is Fritz Diefenbaker. I am a businessman.

Policeman: Show me your papers.

Indy: Ah, yes, yes, yes. Yes, yes.

Policeman (looking at the blade sticking out of the sole of Indy's shoe): What is that?

The Franz Josef Hotel exterior is actually the Naprstkovo Muzeum in Prague.

The car Fokker rides in at 1:06:50 on the DVD is a 1930 Tatra 12 Tudor.

    Fokker's travelling companion in the Tatra is a General Von Kramer. This seems to be a fictitious character. He is played by Jon Pertwee, best known as the Third Doctor on Doctor Who.

    The later-seen Admiral Werner also appears to be fictitious as far as I can tell. 

The train to Ahlhorn is engine 524 1110, one of several trains seen in The Young Indiana Chronicles that is housed at the Czech Railway Museum at Lužná, Czech Republic.

Admiral Werner and General Von Kramer want Fokker to possibly assist Villehad Forssman with some of his ideas for military vehicles. Villehad Forssman (1884-1944) was a Swedish engineer and aircraft designer. He did design the Forssman Giant triplane as seen later in the episode, but I've been unable to confirm him having concepts for a shell-proof tank and one-man submarine as mentioned by Fokker here.

On the way to Ahlhorn, Fokker remarks that the North Sea is cold this time of year. The Ahlhorn base borders the North Sea, lying along the borders of Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France.

The Der Stahlhelm, Bund der Frontsoldaten (The Steel Helmet, League of Front-Line Soldiers) flag is seen at the Ahlhorn base (previously seen in "Attack of the Hawkmen") at 1:11:31 on the DVD.

The car with license plate 11A-2177 that takes Fokker, Von Kramer, and Werner from the Ahlhorn station is a 1926 Praga Piccolo. The lead car in the convoy is a 1924 Praga Piccolo Faeton.

At 1:12:28 on the DVD, the cap the driver of Indy's truck wears reads "MARINE LUFTSCHFF ABTEILUNG". This is German for "Marine Airship Division".

The Forssman Giant airplane comes into the Ahlhorn airship base from Pöhl, Germany.

The Ahlhorn barracks interiors were shot at the Invalidovna in Prague. The exterior of this building was seen as the Belgian intelligence building in "Attack of the Hawkmen".

Indy writes a fake letter to the manager of the Franz Josef Hotel to reserve a room for the night of April 7 (the letter actually has lines in invisible ink to his superiors in French Intelligence). But "Attack of the Hawkmen" seemed to establish Indy as ending his time in the Lafayette Escadrille on April 14 in that episode!

Indy steals an Orion motorcycle from the bike pool at Ahlhorn. There is a real world Orion motorcycle brand, but I've been unable to confirm whether it existed as far back as 1917.

At 1:20:49 on the DVD, Fokker has a box of Van Dyck Dutch Cigars on the desk in his barracks room at Ahlhorn which Indy later uses to make a camera. Van Dyck was a real world brand of cigars, but I'm unsure whether they are still made today. Next to the box is a small matchbox branded Cafe Bresil-Luxe; this was a real world promotional item advertising Brazil-Luxury Coffee, a Belgian brand that no longer seems to exist.

At 1:23:47 on the DVD, an advertising sheet for Kaloderma Soap is seen pasted on a locker door in the men's shower room of the barracks. Kaloderma is a real world Italian brand of personal care products. Another sheet on another locker has the image of a plane flying over a building and the German word "ALLOTULUNG" (ALLOCATION) on it. I'm not sure what it is meant to signify.

Baron Manfred von Richtofen (the Red Baron) makes a return appearance near the end of the episode. Indy met him in "Attack of the Hawkmen". Notice that under his cap, he still wears a bandage over the wound he received in an air duel in that episode.

Fokker remarks that the first tubular frame that he ever built was in a zeppelin hangar in Baden-Baden.

Forssman asks Fokker if the story of his throwing stones between the blades of a windmill was the true inspiration for his machine guns that can shoot between the blades of an airplane propeller. This story's spread is true, but it's questionable as to whether this was an actual childhood game of Fokker's, rather than him getting the idea from a Swiss device referred to as an interrupter.

The Forssman Giant triplane that flies from Pöhl to Ahlhorn here was, in reality, never completed.

At the end of the episode, Indy rides his stolen motorcycle from Ahlhorn naval base to the field outside of Hannover where Nungesser awaits him. This is a distance of over a hundred miles. But it's doable since the triplane was said to arrive at Ahlhorn at 4:00, which we see occur, and it's nearly dark when Indy arrives at the field.

Memorable Dialog

we are expecting a Captain D.mp3

Captain Defense, gentlemen.mp3

full throttle and no brakes.mp3

I've got a bad feeling about this.mp3

I'm a scientist, not a philosopher.mp3

science thrives in times of war.mp3

on the moonlit ride home.mp3