"Third Man on the Mountain" is a Disney live-action film which stars James MacArthur ('Danno' from "Hawaii Five-O"). It seems he was a very popular actor with Disney and made several other films, such as "Swiss Family Robinson". And, if you pay attention, you'll see MacArthur's mother (Helen Hayes) and his then wife, Joyce Bulifant.
Rudi (MacArthur) is a young Swiss man whose father was a famous mountain guide...a deceased guide. Because the man was killed while doing his job, Rudi's mother and uncle insist that he work as a dish washer at the local hotel....though he wants to be a guide just like his old man. However, when a world famous climber comes to town and Rudi saves his life, this man (Michael Rennie) wants him to accompany him on his climbs.
I must admit that this movie sports some incredible cinematography and the staged climbing scenes looked very realistic. On the other hand, I doubt if anyone will love this film unless they love mountain climbing. As for me, I found my attention drifting after a while. So, very well made and acted but also a film that might drag a bit for most viewers.
Plot summary
In 1865 Switzerland, a country mostly covered by high mountains, the main hobby is mountain-climbing. For some locals it's a personal passion and for others it's a lucrative business. Many tourists, mostly rich foreigners and explorers, come to Switzerland to attempt world records by climbing mountain peaks that have never been climbed or seldom been climbed before. Of course, some of these brave explorers lose their lives in their dangerous quests. The local Swiss villages provide experienced mountain guides and porters to the mountain climbers willing to pay the price, in coins or lives. Kurtal is such a small Swiss village located at the base of the famous Citadel mountain. The Citadel is the highest and the most dangerous peak in the region. Many have died trying to climb it but for the past 16 years no one has ventured on it. The last man to lose his life on the Citadel was the famous local mountain guide Josef Matt who died sacrificing himself in order to save the lives of his clients for whom he was serving as a guide. Josef's son, Rudi, is raised by his mother and by his uncle, Franz Lerner, who is also a professional mountain guide. Rudi is only 18 years old but he dreams of becoming a guide like his father. His family disapproves of Rudi's dangerous aspirations and relegate him to much safer jobs, such as being the dishwasher at the local motel run by Herr Hempel and his daughter Lizbeth. Often times, Rudi sneaks out of the kitchen to go climb smaller mountain peaks for exercise. Rudi knows the local rumor claiming that his father Josef had discovered a secret path to the summit of the Citadel on the day he died. Rudi hopes to one day climb the Citadel himself and find the secret path to the top his father supposedly discovered. One day, Rudi is at work washing dishes at the motel and he decides to sneak out of the kitchen in order to do a bit of mountain climbing. On the mountain, Rudi finds a stranded foreign tourist who got trapped when he fell onto a crag into a crevasse. Rudi throws a rope into the crevasse and saves the man who is none other than famed British mountain climber Capt. John Winter. The Captain thanks Rudi for saving his life and explains that accidents on the mountain could even happen to the most experienced climber. On their way back to town, Rudi and the Englishman pass by Rudi father's grave and the two pay their respects. The Captain reveals to Rudi that he believes in the dream of finding Josef's secret path to the top of the Citadel. In town, the Englishman hires Rudi's uncle Franz Lerner as a guide and convinces him to allow Rudi to come along as a porter. He also buys a new complete set of equipment and climbing gear for Rudy. Secretly, the foreigner wants to take a closer look at the famed and evil Citadel. When Rudi's uncle finds out the real aim of Capt. John Winter, he vehemently refuses to be the Englishman's guide to the Citadel. The Englishman leaves town and Rudi's uncle sells Rudi's new climbing gear that was gifted to Rudi by the foreigner. However, Rudi's girlfriend Lizbeth has purchased the hiking boots from Rudi's uncle and gives them back to Rudi. For the next few weeks Rudi undergoes a strict training in mountain climbing and guiding under the supervision of Teo Zurbriggen, Rudi father's old partner. Teo tells Rudi to never work for praise, glory and rewards but rather for the safety of his clients. Soon after, the locals spot two men, climbing the Citadel, through a telescope. One of them is Englishman John Winter and the other is Emil Saxo, a Swiss mountain guide from a nearby rival village. The next day, curious onlookers spot three men climbing the Citadel. With Rudi Matt gone from the village and nowhere to be found, the biggest question in everyone's mind is - who is the third man on the mountain ?
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Surely there are OTHER jobs in this town other than being a guide or working as a dish washer!
Breathtaking suspense!
A Walt Disney Production, released by Buena Vista in the USA: November 1959. New York opening at the Normandie: 11 November 1959. U.K. release through Walt Disney: November 1959. Australian release through Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer: 17 March 1960. 105 minutes. U.S. TV title: Banner in the Sky.
SYNOPSIS: A juvenile re-make of "The White Tower" which was based on a 1945 novel of the same name by — guess who? — James Ramsey Ullman. The bitterness and astringency of the 1945 novel has been considerably toned down here. The engagingly hard, lead characters, played in the 1950 film by Glenn Ford and Alida Valli, have been translated into porous teenagers, whilst the embittered philosopher (originally enacted by Claude Rains) has been transformed into a slightly physically handicapped but overall unconvincingly comic figure (Laurence Naismith). The less said about the rest of Ullman's self-bowdlerizations, the more you will enjoy "Third Man on the Mountain".
NOTES: Location scenes filmed in Zermatt, Switzerland. Although the story is fictitious, the events closely parallel the first ascent of the Matterhorn by Edward Whymper, an Englishman, in 1865. Four members of the expedition were killed after reaching the summit. But the remaining three — including Whymper and a Swiss youth — returned safely. (Available on an excellent Walt Disney DVD).
COMMENT: Despite all the compliments handed out to "Third Man on the Mountain" by contemporary critics, it is possible to justify a few negative comments: Though set in 1865, disappointingly little use is made of the period background; James Macarthur and Janet Munro are hardly convincing as Swiss peasants; but then neither are James Donald or Laurence Naismith; and my final gripe is that the story is both derivative and ridiculously clichéd, whilst the dialogue is often embarrassingly, amateurishly theatrical.
Fortunately, none of these quibbles really matter. All told, they do little to undermine the breathtaking suspense of the mountaineering sequences and the stark beauty of the alpine scenery.
OTHER VIEWS: Comes near being a primer for incipient climbers, and it stays exciting to the end...Like so many Walt Disney productions in this genre, it maintains a 'boy's book' tone... The suspense, which is high, springs from the very authoritativeness of setting and incident. — Paul V. Beckley in The N.Y. Herald Tribune.
Growing up on the Swiss Alps
Third Man On The Mountain has young James MacArthur working as a dishwasher in his uncle James Donald's hotel for tourists in Switzerland. But MacArthur longs to be a mountain climber guide as his father who was a legend in the field. The father was killed attempting a climb up a forbidding mountain outside their village some 16 years earlier.
Both Donald and MacArthur's mother Nora Swinburne keep him away from mountaineering, but he does it on his own. When he saves visiting British mountain climber Michael Rennie, Rennie becomes his champion.
Third Man On The Mountain is a fine coming of age film and it's perfectly cast. Both James MacArthur and Janet Munro were being cast in a lot of Disney films at that time and they made perfect young leads. I should also note the presence of Herbert Lom in the cast as a bragging mountaineer from another village who shames the men of MacArthur's village by accompanying Rennie on an attempt up the local Everest. He steals the film when he's on screen.
After 60 years Third Man On The Mountain holds up well and it's fine family viewing.