Flucht der weißen Hengste

Despite a rather slow start, this film is absolutely classic Disney and well worth the time spent. Everyone should know the story of the Lipizzaner stallions and Col. Podhajsky, the man who risked everything to save them. The stallion's flight from Vienna at the tail end of WWII, and the fact that General Patton and the 3rd Army were heavily involved in their rescue, is exciting stuff and has achieved almost legendary proportions. It's to the film's credit that the viewer eventually gets wrapped up in the Colonel's crusade, and begins to feel a sense of wonder as random chance and pure luck conspire to save the Lipizzaner breed.

I would not have put Robert Taylor in the lead role of Col. Podhajsky, though. As he grew older he got stone-like in his acting, and this is one of his more granite-faced performances. Luckily for us they also cast Curt Jurgens, who plays a good Nazi for once. He is the standout in this production (human standout, that is; the horses are the real stars). He gives a bravura performance as a German General caught up in the atrocities of war with no idea how he could have ever gone along with the Nazis as long as he has. His eyes seem to bleed pain, and he gives the film a welcome dose of humanity as well as the viewpoint of a person who normally follows orders but who has had enough of doing what he doesn't believe in. Lilli Palmer plays the Colonel's wife, and she is more than adequate to the role.

Eddie Albert is used mostly for comic relief as a horse trainer, even singing a Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman song for us; fortunately he's good no matter what he does. And, an extremely young James Franciscus is an Army Major who plays a big role in interesting Patton in the horses, and also in liberating the mares and foals from a Russian onslaught in Czechoslovakia (and also a huge lot of American GI's being held prisoner in the same place); his 1000-watt smile is a welcome addition.

Bottom line, this is a wonderful film for the entire family, if you can get the kids to sit still through the slow beginning; the older they are the easier it will be. It's a film about a little-publicized event in WWII, and shows how the two sides worked side-by-side to save a treasured piece of Viennese history. The horses are gorgeous, and we don't see near enough of them, which is the only real detriment to this fine film about the marvelous White Stallions of Vienna and the Spanish Riding School.

Too pedestrian for my liking.

The concept as a whole isn't all that interesting, at least in regards to making a film about it. Nothing about it really stands out really, Robert Taylor does a decent job as Podhajsky but I'm struggling to pick out any others.

Also, for a film about horses there's hardly any major scenes with them. It's practically just 118 minutes filled with chatting which either goes against what Podhajsky desires or impacts Podhajsky and the Spanish Riding School. 'Miracle of the White Stallions' is just all rather dull, which is a surprise for a film set during World War II.

I assume Disney were going for an artsy film about Austria and its Lipizzan horses - as they similarly attempted with 1962's 'Almost Angels', which focuses on Vienna's Boys' Choir. It mostly worked in that, though it doesn't for me in this unfortunately.

This exceptional live-action Walt Disney adventure-drama might have benefited from a warmer actor in the lead role, but Robot Taylor (pun intended) nevertheless brings strength and conviction to the part of an angry but caring man. The supporting cast is uniformly excellent, especially Lilli Palmer and Curt Jurgens who supply a depth of emotion to a dry and unsentimental story.

The film works the family-oriented animal interest of the Lippizan horses into the framework of a dramatic and often suspenseful wartime adventure. One needn't be a horse-lover to be caught up in the story and end up caring about the animals which in this film are symbols of art, grace and beauty surviving a war-torn world. The audience is teased with glimpses of the stallions at play and in training and learns to appreciate their value so that the full-blown horse-show finale comes as a welcome joy.

The well-produced movie was filmed on location in Austria and is handsomely photographed. There is a gripping battle scene and adults will be impressed with the maturity of the entire project.

Bearing in mind the box-office appeal of Austria as depicted in 'Sissi', 'The von Trapp Family' and his own studio's 'Almost Angels', Uncle Walt Disney, acknowledged king of the feel good/family movie, must have felt he was on to a winner with this one but the film fared badly both critically and commercially.

Capably directed by Arthur Hiller in his only film for Disney, it is loosely based upon the memoirs of Alois Podhajsky, Olympic medallist, one of the greatest dressage riders of all time and director of Vienna's Spanish Riding School whose single-mindedness and determination in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds secured the survival and future breeding of the famed Lippizan breed whilst maintaining the glorious tradition of the haute école that had been established in the Renaissance.

Nebraskan Robert Taylor, back on the big screen after a spell in television, would seem an odd choice to play Podhajsky and is obviously cast with a view to North American distribution but his appealing personality and undoubted star quality enable him to carry it off. He also has the great good fortune to be playing opposite the wondrous Lili Palmer who enriches every film in which she appears and who provides a perfect balance.

Mention must be made of Curt Jurgens who once again plays the role that suits him to a tee, that of the good German who happens to be a Nazi. As cultured General Tellheim his melancholic monologue at the piano whilst playing 'forbidden' Jewish composer Mendelssohn is one of the film's highlights. Great support as always from Eddie Albert and as a bonus the classy Brigitte Horney is perfectly cast as an Austrian aristocrat. Charles Regnier is the dyed-in-the wool 'I am only obeying orders' Nazi, the refugees are portrayed as thieves and scavengers and apart from the one-dimensional General Patton of John Larch, most of the American soldiers are good natured hicks.

The final scene of the performing Lippizaners in the arena of the Spanish Riding School after ten years in exile is of course magnificent, with Taylor, Palmer, Horney and James Franciscus looking not a day older than they did in 1945!

There are those who proudly declare that they have no interest in equine activity and they have my deepest sympathy whilst those of us who have seen these noble creatures in action owe Podhajsky an immeasurable debt.

This is something as rare as a war film about horses produced by Walt Disney while he was still alive, being about simultaneously produced with "Mary Poppins", but this is no fairy tale although it seems to contain elements of it, but it is a very true story, and general Patton was part of it himself. Not only was it an impossible task to save the Spanish riding school from the Nazi occupation of Vienna under bomb raids and threats of the approaching Russian army, but a more challenging necessity was to save the Lipizaner mares from their refuge in Czechoslovakia. The Russians had already seized the Budapest riding school and eaten the noble horses, and Czechoslovakia was consigned for the Russians. How then did the Spanish riding school of Vienna with the world's most celebrated horses manage to survive? It's a long and wondferful story.

Robert Taylor makes a fine performance as the director of the cschool in charge of all the worrying operations, while Lilli Palmer seconds him brilliantly. Eddie Albert is one of the master riders and even sings a song in a Viennese taverna. Brigitte Horney plays an important part as the countess housing the school in St. Martin, while Curd Jurgens' performance as a desillusioned German officer is more melancholy but the more important. On the whole it is a brilliant film and a must for all horse lovers, and who could not be a horse lover viewing a film like this?