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It may not tap into the primal majesty of Arnold Fanck and Leni Riefenstahl's once-hugely popular German `berg' films of the Thirties, but Disney's 1959 live-action feature Third Man on the Mountain is a rather splendid family-friendly adventure that benefits from a stronger story and characterisation. Not that either are particularly complex: James MacArthur is the son of a legendary guide who died trying to save a climber on the deadly Citadel, the only mountain in the area that has never been climbed and which kills most of those who make the attempt. Dreaming of becoming a guide himself, he's relegated to the kitchen of the local hotel that has done very nicely out of the fame his father's death has brought the village, his uncle (James Donald) determined to keep firmly down on the ground for his mother's sake while girlfriend Janet Munro and former guide Laurence Naismith know that's not going to happen. Things start looking up when he saves the life of Michael Rennie's legendary climber, who's planning his own assault on the Citadel, but none of the town's guides will go with him...
It's the kind of well-crafted old-fashioned storytelling that still holds up very well indeed, with an appealing cast, some gorgeous Technicolor photography of some stunning Swiss locations and some impressive footage on the mountains themselves that isn't over-reliant on Peter Ellenshaw's occasional matte painting. There are plenty of familiar faces in the cast, from Herbert Lom's reliably bad tempered guide from a rival village, locals Ferdy Mayne and a very recognisable but unbilled Roger Delgado (the Master from Doctor Who) and even an unbilled cameo for MacArthur's mother Helen Hayes. Only the usually reliable James Donald, who specialised in playing the understated voice of reason in tales of obsession like Bridge on the River Kwai, is a bit more awkward playing outside his comfort zone as the stern, occasionally belligerent uncle, but it's more a performance that occasionally wavers in the wrong direction before righting itself than one that hurts the picture. It's still hugely entertaining, so it's little surprise that Disney would reunite MacArthur, Munro and Annakin for Swiss Family Robinson [DVD] [1960] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] the following year.
It's just a shame that the barebones NTSC Region 1 DVD release didn't get remastered - it's not a disastrous transfer but it looks like a simple port of the old video transfer which is mostly adequate but lacks the kind of extra detail that would give it a bit more bite. No extras either, despite Disney devoting an episode of his Disneyland TV show to its production that could easily have been included.
