Third Man on the Mountain
Directed by Ken Annakin
Written by Eleanore Griffin from a book by James Ramsey Ullman
1959/USA/UK
Walt Disney Productions
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] Frau Matt: Would you want to be the wife of a guide?
Lizbeth Hempel: Yes. Or of a dishwasher, or a hotel proprietor. But never the wife of a hotel proprietor who wanted to climb mountains! Because a man must do what he feels he must do; or he isn’t a man. And no one, wife mother or sweetheart, has the right to make him into something that he wasn’t meant to be.[/box]
Here is a good family adventure film with an excellent cast of mostly British actors.
The setting is 19th Century Switzerland. Rudi Matt (James MacArthur) is the son of a famed Alpine guide. His father lost his life attempting to scale the Citadel and his mother and uncle (James Donald), also a guide, are doing everything in their power to prevent Rudi from climbing. He is currently washing dishes in a climber’s hotel. But nothing can keep Rudi out of the mountains and he spends much of his time dreaming about scaling the Citadel one day himself. His biggest fans are the hotel cook, a former guide, and the hotel owner’s daughter Lizbeth (Janet Munro)
One day, Rudi plays hooky and happens upon famed climber Captain John Winter (Michael Rennie), who has fallen into a cravass. He saves Winter’s life and Winter rewards him in various ways, including asking for the boy as a porter. Rudi has a lot to learn before he becomes selfless enough to be the guide his father was. With Herbert Lom as a guide from a rival village.
The closest I have gotten to real life peaks is to gaze at them. Yet, mountain climbing is one of my favorite topics. The number of books I have read about Everest may be in the double digits. This film scratches that itch in a wholesome Disneyfied way and I really enjoyed it.
The Matterhorn stands in for the fictional Citadel in this movie, which was the inspiration for the famous attraction at Disneyland.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRac_oINFeg
DVD promo
