Miracle of the White Stallions

Miracle of the White Stallions is a 1963 film released by Walt Disney starring Robert Taylor (playing Alois Podhajsky), Lilli Palmer, and Eddie Albert. It is the story of the evacuation of the Lipizzaner horses from the Spanish Riding School in Vienna during World War II. Major parts of the movie were shot in the Hermesvilla in Vienna.

Plot
During the final critical months of World War II, Colonel Alois Podhajsky, the director of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, is denied permission by General Stryker to evacuate the school's prized Lipizzan horses, endangered by the bombardment of the city. Desperate, he enlists the aid of General Tellheim, a sympathetic German who permits Podhajsky and his chief rider, Otto, to smuggle the white stallions to the safety of an old castle belonging to the Countess Arco-Valley. However, the mares had earlier been transferred to Czechoslovakia, and Podhajsky is now faced with the possibility of the rare breed becoming extinct. When an American advance guard arrives at the castle, Podhajsky stages a performance in order to persuade General Patton to include the Lipizzan mares as part of the Allied prisoner liberation program, and the Spanish Riding School becomes officially protected by the United States Army. Under the command of Colonel Reed, the Lipizzan mares are rounded up from Czechoslovakia before the arrival of the Russian force and returned to Podhajsky, thus insuring the continuation of the breed. Ten years later, on the 212th anniversary of the Riding Hall, the Lipizzans are once more performing at the Imperial Court in Vienna.

Cast

 * Robert Taylor - Col.Alois Podhajsky
 * Lilli Palmer - Vedena Podhajsky
 * Curd Jürgens - Gen. Tellheim
 * Eddie Albert - Rider Otto
 * James Franciscus - Maj. Hoffman
 * John Larch - Gen. Patton
 * Brigitte Horney - Countess Arco-Valley
 * Philip Abbott - Col. Reed
 * Douglas Fowley - U.S. General
 * Charles Régnier - Gen. Stryker
 * Fritz Wepper - Rider Hans
 * Guenther Haenel - Groom Sascha
 * Hans Habietinek - Innkeeper Hager
 * Philo Hauser - Dispatcher
 * <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Michael Janisch - Refugee Leader
 * <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Max Haufler - Engineer
 * <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Robert Dietl - German MP Captain
 * <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Erik Schumann - German Capt. Danhoff
 * <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Helmuth Janatsch - Intruder
 * <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Michael Tellering - Stryker's Adjutant