Third Man On The Mountain

great movie, but do not throw out your vhs copy yet
THE STORY : Basically, young Rudi is the son of the best climbing guide in his village, who died tragically climbing the yet unconquered Matterhorn, or as they call it "the Citadel". Rudi's mother refuses to let her son climb, and he is going crazy for it if it were not for the love and understanding of Lizbeth. He strongly believes his father had discovered a secret path to the mountaintop that has so far eluded all other climbers. Rudi is always in trouble for sneaking away to climb on his own, when he is supposed to be washing dishes at the hotel. But the village is concerned over losing their reputation with the other villages, since their guides have been afraid to climb the mountain in the 16 years since the tragedy. When a famous British climber arrives with a guide from a rival village to climb the Citadel and also wants to hire local guides, Rudi and the village get their big chance at redeeming their reputation. There is a good moral lesson about thinking of others first. A...

Gret Old Classics/Poor Video Transfers
I love this movie and was delighted to see it appear at last on DVD. That is until I watched it. I was going to comment on the picture quality of this new DVD, but someone in New York beat me to it. All I can do is agree with that individual.

I worked at the Disney Studios in the 1970's in 16mm film distribution (just prior to the coming of home video). I distributed 16mm prints of this title. A new 16mm print struck at that time had a much better picture quality than the element used to make this current DVD transfer. The main problem is negative dirt. It's like watching a film in a snow storm. The N.Y. reviewer also correctly observed that the color correction was uneven.

Some audiences do not notice these technical flaws. Yet those in the industry have spent decades trying to improve the quality of how to present film product. DVDs are marketed on this very point. After all, what else do studios have to offer but their inventories? If all the...

disappointing Disney
Having read the cautionary reviews of my colleagues, regarding the quality of the dvd, I decided to purchase "Third Man On The Mountain" anyway. I, too, became enthralled with the story in grade school when I read Banner In The Sky and eagerly ran to the theater to see the story brought to life on film. You all know the tale, so I won't bore the reader by repeating it. The DVD transfer is a disgrace! Grainy, poor color correction; very painful to watch. I had hoped that the other reviewers were just being too technically critical, but they were spot on! If Disney is going to bring a film to DVD, it owes the consumer AND the filmmakers the courtesy of presenting the movie in the best possible manner! Disney failed us all miserably, and - because TMOTM is not a Disney "classic" it is likely we will never again see the pristine cinematography so lovingly shot back in the 50's. One other thing - could not determine if the film was ever shot in 'scope; was it just 1.33:1 aspect ratio...

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