Free Republic

Ostensibly the story of the elegant Lipizzaner stallions in Vienna, this 1963 Disney film is blatantly pro-America with some authentic history thrown in. The director of Vienna’s legendary Spanish Riding School, Alois Podhajsky was desperate to protect his extraordinary horses from the vicious Nazi commanders. Hopes were dim until the arrival of horseman General George S. Patton who crafted a bold mission to rescue the splendid animals and keep the breed alive. In 1945, by sheer serendipity, the U.S. Third Army moved into Upper Austria at the time Colonel Podhajsky had hidden the horses on a private estate. Podhajsky showed...