Long out of print, and finally available again in DVD! In this fine Disney adventure, Rudi Matt (James MacArthur), employed as a kitchen worker, decides to climb to the top of the Citadel, the same treacherous climb that had taken the life of his father. With the support of a renowned English mountain climber (Michael Rennie) and his loving girlfriend (Janet Munro), Rudi vigorously trains for, and then conquers, this dangerous quest.
This film was shot on location in Zermat, Switzerland, and features breathtaking views of the mountain scenery. Made in 1959. The climbing was done by Gaston Rebuffat, so the climbing scenes are authentic. Based on Banner in the Sky by James Ramsey Ullman. Includes James MacArthur and Michael Rennie, Janet Munro, James Donald, Herbert Lom, Laurence Naismith. 105 MINUTES, DVD.
Here is more from the Disney website: Third Man on the Mountain DVD Review Eighteen-year-old Rudi Matt (James MacArthur) dreams of climbing the mountains that loom dominantly around his Swiss town. For now, the young man keeps his feet firmly on the ground, working as a dishwasher in a hotel. Somehow, Rudi's aspirations must be realized, and he takes any opportunity he can to secretly frolic at high altitudes. His mother (Nora Swinburne) and uncle Franz Lerner (James Donald) have understandable reservations about allowing Rudi to climb. After all, his father died in the mountains. That was sixteen years ago, and Josef Matt's reputation lives on as one of the finest climbers Switzerland has known. While the land remains active with climbers, no one dares attempt to conquer The Citadel, the largest peak around and the site of Rudi's father's death. One day, while peacefully scaling the towering landscapes, Rudi barely notices a man calling for help. After Rudi successfully pulls off a heroic rescue, the English man he saved introduces himself as Captain John Winter. Winter (Michael Rennie) himself has a reputation for being one of the most proficient climbers around. Grateful to Rudi, and surprised to learn that the legendary Matt's son spends his day scrubbing plates, Winter offers for Rudi to go up on a climb with him and Uncle Franz. The trip goes well enough until Rudi goes climbing off on his own, creating a bit of trouble for the trio and spirit-shattering embarassment for Rudi. This encounter reaffirms Franz's decision not to allow the youth to concern himself with mountain climbing. In fact, Franz tries to snuff out Rudi's spark by deriding the boy in front of the town, when he expresses interest in acting as guide to Captain Winter's ambitious plan to get atop the Citadel. Though mother and uncle wholeheartedly disapprove of the activity, others provide support to Rudi. These include Lizbeth (Janet Munro), his cheerful girlfriend, who sees his dream as perhaps even destiny, and his boss Teo (Laurence Naismith), a man who went on journeys with the late Mr. Matt, and is willing to share some expertise with the soft spot he has for his daydreaming employee. The big adventure that the film seems to lead up to is Winter's climb of the Citadel. Since all of the local mountain guides have rejected his requests to accompany him, Winter is forced to bring along Emil Saxo (Herbert Lom), a guide from another town. Suffice it to say the disagreeable Emil is none too pleased when Rudi shows up and Winter welcomes him with open arms. When he learns that his nephew has joined Winter on this perilous quest, Rudi's uncle and some of the other local townsfolk begin on the trail to convince Winter and Rudi to come down. Of course, everything that the film reveals to you by this point assures you that there will be a mission up the Based on a true story captured in James Ramsey Ullman's book Banner in the Sky, Third Man on the Mountain works well enough, but a number of problems keep it from reaching the heights of Walt's most memorable early films. Chief among those problems may be pacing. At 107 minutes, the film's running time is deceptively reasonable. Pacing is thrown off when the film devotes time to watching every move up the mountain during early runs, with step-by-step instrumentation providing an unextraordinary score. These sequences surely intend to instill in the viewer an appreciation for the art of mountain-climbing and to elucidate a transcendence that people like Rudi and Captain Winter experience when ascending the rocky terrain. But they do not achieve that. For some reason, perhaps the lack of significance to these early climbs, the sequences seem to slow down affairs and unnecessary what we already understand: that the mountains draw in Rudi as with some kind of special powers. One area Third Man undoubtedly succeeds at: atmosphere. Filmed entirely on location in Switzerland, the genuine mountain photography convinces where poor soundstages or ever-revealing visual effects of the era would not. Disney's legendary matte artist, Peter Ellenshaw, was called on to create a more convincing reality on down perspective shots, where scenery was often shrouded by clouds. The other 'trick' the filmmakers relied on, was having Gaston Rebuffat, a skillful French mountain climber, head the challenging photography as mountain unit director. The actors underwent brief but significant training, so that doubles were used sparingly, and edited together seamlessly. Ken Annakin, who directed two British period pieces among Walt's earliest live action productions, brings a reverence for the art of mountain-climbing that the characters who engage in it share. However, the fun-spiritedness that marks Swiss Family Robinson (which Annakin directed the following year), is noticeably missing for the most part here. James MacArthur proves capable in the lead role, and his character here is much easier to like than Fritz Robinson, important because Third Man will fail viewers who cannot get behind the Rudi's goal and see the universality of the film's theme of realizing dreams. Janet Munro brightens every scene in which she appears. As such, it's a shame she's not in the film more. Laurence Naismith performs aptly as Teo Zurbriggen, Rudi's employer at the hotel who seems to think a lot more clearly than some give him credit for. In his first film for Disney, Naismith brings the same sensibility he would contribute to the other straight-faced productions he would appear in for the studio. There is a certain attention to detail and undeniable effort which marks the earliest live action films that Walt Disney helmed. In the 1950s, Walt's interest in his television programs and films was remarkable for a man who had so many different things to juggle, and a growing audience to please. While Third Man on the Mountain is not as universally pleasing as the ambitious 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the sweet and affecting Old Yeller or the charming fantasy of Darby O'Gill and the Little People, this high altitude adventure definitely contains that early Disney detail and spirit. Most of the folks who have been to Disneyland and taken the Matterhorn Bobsled ride may not know that the attraction owes its setting (if nothing else) to Third Man on the Mountain. This is the film that inspired the ride.The opening credits sequence of Third Man on the Mountain looked so worn out and grainy that I feared the video quality could not get better enough to make this transfer passable. Naturally, following the optical titles the picture quality does get substantially better, but there are still a fair amount of problems.
