"Perilous Assignment" is an episode of ABC's Walt Disney Presents. Disney loved to show viewers behind the scenes of the daring shoots of its theatrically released or TV shows. The theme of the episode is the making of his next film, The Third Man on the Mountain, an adaptation of James Ramsey Ullman's novel Banner in the Sky, based on the true story of the first ascent of the Matterhorn. Walt Disney will not be limited to a simple promotional making-of. He offers to meet exceptional people, including the French mountain guide Gaston Rébuffat. The latter will show climbing techniques and then reveal breathtaking images of his ascents of steep cliffs with a client for the ascent of Mont-Blanc, filmed for the occasion. In 1958, Walt Disney will therefore offer him to be deputy director on the high mountain scenes of the film "The Third Man on the Mountain".
Practical Effects
Actual 1958 cliff faces. No green screen, no insurance, no fear.
Direction
Luske turns corporate promo into genuine mountaineering poetry.
Director
Hamilton Luske
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Rébuffat's footage here became foundational visual reference for every climbing film for decades—including vertical shots Spielberg studied for Close Encounters.
This aired when Americans feared mountains as death traps. Walt Disney, capitalist mythmaker, rebranded alpinism as family entertainment. The national park attendance spike wasn't coincidence.
US
