I'm with you... I saw this movie as a kid, maybe around 1970, and somehow I never forgot it. When I went to Disneyland around that time, I of course recognized the "Matterhorn" as the Citadel from this movie, and back then, they used to have this boy and girl pair that actually climbed the mountain in Swiss-style clothes while people all around the park could watch them. I loved the film and always remembered it, but never had the opportunity to see it again. Decades later, I was delighted to learn the title of this film from a Disney online forum, and then to find it available on DVD (albeit in a very sparse no frills edition).
Everything that first review said was spot on. The scenery and the cinematography (in the mountains and meadows, but also in the Swiss village) were beautiful and charming. The climbing sequences were wonderfully photographed and enhanced with a certain tension (watching them use antique equipment and old-fashioned techniques, as well as some seriously technical pitches essentially without pro). I'd say as a climbing film, it still stands up very well, even in this CGI enhanced era. The story was inspiring in the Disney-esque way, and the coming of age part of the story reminded me of a certain young moisture-farmer on a desert planet with twin suns who had a stern disapproving Uncle also, so he snuck off with his elderly mentor to train. The simple love story angle was charming also and reminded me of how much I liked sweet Janet Munro... sigh.... remembering her also from Swiss Family Robinson and Darby O'Gill and the Little People.
For me, this film inspired in me a lifelong dream to go to Switzerland and hike and climb around on the Alps, stay in mountain huts, and visit little Swiss villages.
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