Archie Hicox

## Archibald Hicox

Lieutenant **Archibald "Archie" Hicox** was a supporting protagonist in Quentin Tarantino's 6th film, *Inglourious Basterds*. He was a British Army officer who joins up with The Basterds during Operation Kino in order to wipe out the German High Command at the premiere of the Nazi film "Nation's Pride". Along with Aldo Raine and Hugo Stiglitz, Hicox was one of the three non-Jewish members of The Basterds.

## Biography

### Background

Archie Hicox was born in the United Kingdom. He was the great great grandson of Pete Hicox of the Domergue Gang. Before joining the military, he worked as a film critic and wrote reviews and articles, for a publication called "Films and Filmmakers". He also wrote two books, "Art Of The Eyes, The Heart, and The Mind: A Study of German Cinema in the Twenties" and "Twenty-Four Frame Da Vinci".

### Chapter Four - OPERATION KINO

Hicox was recruited by General Ed Fenech, under the supervision of Winston Churchill. He was sent to the French town of Nadine, where he was to meet with Aldo Raine, the Basterds and their contact, German actress Bridget von Hammersmark.

He joins the Basterds in a ruined house, who scoff at him, as the the tavern where they were supposed to meet Bridget was in a basement. Hicox expresses his concern as this is a delicate situation, and he's especially concerned about Hugo Stiglitz. When they enter the tavern, they are stunned to see four German soldiers at the table, with Bridget von Hammersmark. During an argument with the celebrating soldier, Wilhelm, the Gestapo Major Dieter Hellstrom joins their table. Hicox inadvertendly blows his cover by ordering drinks with the wrong hand gesture. Hicox is killed in the Mexican standoff that takes place, in which Stiglitz and Hicox shoot Hellstrom in the testicles, who does the same thing, which leads to Wilhelm Wicki, Eric and the other German soldiers to shoot each other.

## Personality

The Lieutenant is very proud of his ability to speak German and understand German cinema, the former, however, became part of his undoing. Being born British, Lt. Hicox did not anticipate his foreign accent to attract the enemies' attention. His lack of knowledge of German culture outside its cinema also plays a part in his eventual demise, as when he ordered 3 whiskeys with the wrong hand sign.

Still, Archie Hicox is a model British soldier who respects the chain of command. He follows orders without question and carries them out with no hesitation. Even with a gun pointed at his crotch, he still managed to fulfill the objective of keeping Bridget von Hammersmark's cover intact (though it later was exposed by Hans Landa), by shooting Dieter Hellstrom.

## Behind the scenes

Archie Hicox was portrayed by Michael Fassbender.

Tim Roth was in talks with Quentin Tarantino to play Lt. Archie Hicox.

British actor Simon Pegg was originally set to play Hicox but was forced to pull out of the project because of scheduling conflicts. Michael Fassbender replaced him.

In the original script, the character of Lieutenant Hicox is compared to the actor George Sanders as a young man) like in *The Saint* or the *The Dishonest*), while the general Fenech is Sanders at older age (with the aspect that in the 1960 movie *Village of the Damned*).

At his audition in Berlin, Michael Fassbender inquired about playing Colonel Hans Landa. Quentin Tarantino replied: "Look, man, any guy that gets cast as Heathcliff is not fucking German enough to play my Landa, all right?"

Michael Fassbender's performance as Lt. Archie Hilcox is layered with irony due to his real life. Fassbender was born in Germany to German and Irish parents and raised in Ireland, now residing in London with fluency in German as his first language and English as his second, and a mastery of English accents and dialects. Here he plays an Englishman who goes undercover as a German, and who can speak German fluently, but cannot hide his accent.

## Trivia

* Lt. Archie Hicox wears the insignia of the British Combined Operations Command, which included forces from all the British services as well as other allied forces as well as the famous Commandos.
* Hicox's uniform has the following characteristics: He wears the Commando Green Beret, the Combined Operations badge on his left arm, 'No.4 COMMANDO' flashes on his shoulders and an Intelligence Corps cap badge on his beret. This means he was an Intelligence Corps officer who passed the Commando Course at Achnacarry and was serving at the time as part of 'No.4 COMMANDO' (A Commando means both a commando trained individual and a battalion sized formation of commando troops). His 2 medals are the Military Cross (an award for bravery in the face of the enemy) and the Africa Star. This means he was in Africa 1942-43, during which time his conduct earned him the MC.
* According Hicox, the purpose of Goebbels movie industry was to overcome the success of Jewish film producers that dominate the Hollywood scene of that period. In this regard Churchill intervenes as asking him how is Goebbels doing if compared, for example, to the producer Louis B. Mayer (the famous as well as despotic head of Metro Goldwyn Mayer). Hicox responds that he's doing well, but Meyer would not be Goebbels' proper opposite number, as Goebbels sees himself closer to David O. Selznick (producer and talent scout with great insight and talent). Selznick produced some big hits like *Gone with the Wind* and King Kong.