Third Man on the Mountain

Third Man on the Mountain is a 1959 American family adventure film by Walt Disney Productions, directed by Ken Annakin and starring Michael Rennie, James MacArthur and Janet Munro. Set during the golden age of alpinism, its plot concerns a young Swiss man who conquers the mountain that killed his father. It is based on Banner in the Sky, a James Ramsey Ullman 1955 novel about the first ascent of the Citadel, and was televised under this name. Cast Michael Rennie as Captain John Winter James MacArthur as Rudi Matt Janet Munro as Lizbeth Hempel James Donald as Franz Lerner Herbert Lom as Emil Saxo Laurence Naismith as Teo Zurbriggen Lee Patterson as Klaus Wesselhoft Walter Fitzgerald as Herr Hempel Nora Swinburne as Frau Matt Ferdy Mayne as Andreas Krickel Roger Delgado as Italian climber (uncredited) Helen Hayes as a tourist (uncredited) Kenneth Brannan as a tourist (uncredited) Production Original novel The film was based on the 1954 novel Banner in the Sky by James Ramsey Ullman, who had written The White Tower. The novel was based on the real life first ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865. Captain John Winter was based on Edward Whymper but the young character of Rudi was entirely fictional. The New York Times called it "a superb mountain climbing story for younger readers".