Ao Passar do Vendaval

"Miracle of the White Stallions" is a most unusual film...one I'd never heard of until I stumbled upon it on YouTube. Think about it....a movie about the Nazis in Austria who work with the famed Lipizzaner stallions and saved them during the war! And, to top it off...it was made by Disney!! I can only imagine that the company hasn't put it on Disney+ because the company is probably worried about showing these Third Reich soldiers in a more politically correct age...though these men are decidedly anti-Nazi in their sentiments. It could also be that they have 'forgotten' about the film because it is a war film...something that doesn't exactly fit in with the Disney+ image.

The story is about a real life incident. Col. Podhajsky (Robert Taylor) is in charge of the famed Spanish Riding School in Vienna. When the movie begins, the war is going badly for the Nazis and Podhajsky is having great difficulty protecting this very special breed of horses...an Austrian national treasure in many ways. To make it worse, the higher ups won't allow him to evacuate the horses to the countryside as they don't want to acknowledge in any way how badly the war is going. This film is about his efforts to save the animals and preserve this tradition...and, fortunately, the real life Podajsky was on hand to make sure the film got the story right.

This film is blessed with a very impressive cast, including: Robert Taylor (Podajsky), Eddie Albert, Curd Jürgens, Lili Palmer and James Franciscus. It also is a story that offers a bit for everyone...especially horse lovers. The story is well written, based on true events and is quite inspiring....a film Disney should be proud to have produced.

This film tugs at the heartstrings with its memorable music, beautiful and talented animals, and compelling history. Though it opens like a war movie with tankers and soldiers filling the screen, it soon shifts into a moving story about the historic preservation of the famous Lippizaner stallions during the Second World War. This is family-friendly fare and safe for elementary school-age children (approx. third grade and above), to watch and enjoy. Those who love horses will be in awe of the impressive, precise performances these intelligent stallions present. Indeed, this film has so stayed with me since childhood, I leapt at the opportunity to see the Lippizaner stallions of today perform in real-life several years ago. They still "dance" to the same famous song! :)

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.

The horses are the ONLY reason to watch this otherwise pathetic movie. The American soldiers and their incredibly STUPID comments and jokes are really cringe-worthy!!!

It was very interesting and moving to learn about the events, while it is a Disney movie with expected artistic license type dialogues and side stories such as romance and dinner scenes etc., and not a 100% historic "documentary" it is highly accurate and a google search does find there really was a riding school In Budapest that was destroyed.

Just think, that the entire act of saving the historic school building and the horses came down to just one or two men's decisions, and that had circumstances been ever so slightly different than it happened- we could very well now be reading books and articles about a historic riding school in Vienna that was completely destroyed and the horses wiped out, and be seeing only pictures of what it once looked like!

Key things just happened to come into play to save both in the face of almost impossible odds!

The actibg was great, the whole film was well doneand considering it was filmed less than 20 years after the war is amazing!