What does it mean to be a man? There’s probably no end to the number of definitions we could come up with. Rather than give you my answer, I’d like to look to the past for time-tested wisdom.

A forgotten 1959 film entitled Third Man on the Mountain answers that question in an astonishingly adroit way. That film is about an 18-year-old who is referred to as a boy for most of the film. It’s only when he begins to make certain choices that he is finally referred to as a man: the titular third man on the mountain.

Let’s go through this wonderful film and see how it answers the question of what it means to be a man rather than a boy.

A Boy’s Dreams

At the start of the film, we find Rudi Matt daydreaming of high adventure. He envisions himself reaching the top of a tall mountain. And not just any mountain: the Citadel. That mountain is close to his village, but it’s said to be impossible to climb. His father died 16 years ago during an attempt to climb it as a guide to a climber. Rudi was just 2 years old when his father died, so he never got to know what kind of man he was. But he hears all kinds of stories about him being the best guide ever.

No one from Rudi’s village has gone anywhere close to the Citadel in those 16 years. Perhaps out of respect for the dead or out of fear of the mountain itself. After all, if the greatest guide in the world couldn’t reach the peak, how could they?

With all of these thoughts swirling around Rudi’s head, he dreams of finishing what his father started. However, he has a lot to learn before making that ascent. You see, Rudi’s father didn’t die by falling off a cliff or being crushed in an avalanche. The man he was guiding up the mountain was injured, and Rudi’s father gave him his red shirt and coat to protect him from the bitter cold until he could be brought down to safety. Because of his selfless action, he died of exposure to the cold mountain air. He gave his life for another.

First Steps Out of Boyhood

Rudi seems to only be interested in his own glory, but he has a lot of his father in him. We see that when he removes his coat and shirt to attach them to a rope in order to reach a wounded climber who’s stuck in a frozen crevice. Just like his father, Rudi puts himself in harm’s way to help another. But he survives the ordeal and is rewarded for his good deed.

That climber just so happens to be a rich adventurer named Captain John Winter who has his sights set on the Citadel. To practice for it, he hires Rudi’s uncle as a guide and Rudi as a porter to help him climb a smaller mountain. Rudi gets carried away with the excitement of the climb. While seeking an easier path up the mountain, he gets stuck on a dangerous precipice. His uncle and Captain Winter have to risk their lives to rescue him.

After they return from their climb, Rudi is humiliated. He feels like his life is over because he wanted to impress Captain Winter so that he could be his guide up the Citadel. He’s convinced that he’s the only one who can make that climb where so many others had failed. That would prove his manhood once and for all.

Instead, he had proven himself incapable of simply following his experienced uncle up a smaller mountain. As he learns from another climber, his mistake wasn’t ambition; it was forgetting his purpose. As a guide, he must never put himself first. His whole mission is to secure the climber’s safety and ensure he goes home happy and alive, even if he has to sacrifice his own needs in the process.

Becoming a Man

Captain Winter can’t find anyone in Rudi’s village willing to act as his guide up the Citadel. So he hires a man named Emil Saxo from another nearby village. Rudi spots Captain Winter and Emil on the mountain and goes to help. He knows they will fail without him, and they may even die on the mountain.

Rudi’s uncle is aware of the two climbers, but when he hears about “the third man on the mountain,” he realizes it has to be his nephew. He begins climbing to bring “the boy” down, but Rudi shows that he’s not a boy anymore by doing two things.

First, he shows his uncle, Captain Winter, and Emil the way to get up on top of the Citadel. No one else had been able to find it, and only a very flexible frame could fit through the passageway. He’s able to squeeze through and drop a rope for the other three climbers to follow.

Second, he demonstrates selflessness. After his heroic act, it seems like nothing stands in their way of getting to the summit. However, Emil is overzealous to reach it first. He goes ahead of the others and winds up falling and getting hurt. Thankfully, Rudi finds him.

Emil laughs sardonically at his situation. He thought he could beat everyone else to the top of the Citadel to immortalize himself, and now he’s going to die on that mountain. He tells Rudi to go climb to the top and get all the glory for himself. But he doesn’t count on the fact that he’s not talking to a mere boy. Rudi refuses to leave Emil’s side. He creates splints for the man’s injured arm and leg, and then he carefully helps him descend the mountain. He saves Emil’s life and earns the respect of everyone he cares about.

Rudi never sets foot on the summit of the Citadel himself. He leaves that experience to his uncle and Captain Winter. But he does something much more important. He proves that he is a man just like his father was. No longer a boy, the third man on the mountain realizes that he attains much more strength and glory by serving others than he could ever gain through self-aggrandizement.

What It Means to Be a Man

I promised I wouldn’t give my own definition of what it means to be a man. Here is how Third Man on the Mountain answers the question I posed at the beginning. A boy seeks adventure and glory for himself while a man seeks the safety and happiness of others he cares for.

How many grown men fit that definition? Quite a few, in my estimation. Of course, men like to be competitive and ambitious, but those qualities are often harnessed in the service of our wives, children, and communities. When a man serves his fellow man, he receives much more honor than he ever could have gotten by serving himself.

There’s a wonderful example of this in the film. Although neither Rudi nor his father set foot on the peak of the Citadel, they receive full credit for getting others there. Rudi’s uncle and Captain Winter point out that if it hadn’t been for Rudi, they never would have made it to the top of the mountain. And they commemorate his sacrifice by attaching his father’s red shirt he wore on the mountain (which represents the sacrifice of his life for another) to a pole and having it wave like a flag where they stood at the peak.

Both Rudi and his father are honored as kings of the mountain. By demonstrating selfless love, they etched themselves into history books and into the hearts of everyone they served.

Just because husbands and fathers who quietly serve their wives and children don’t get all the glory in this life doesn’t mean that they won’t be honored for their efforts one day. A man is no longer a boy when he serves and puts others’ needs above his own. When we do that, we emulate the only perfect Man who ever lived on the Earth. And we’re blessed in countless ways when we lose ourselves in the service of others.

Let us be good men, able to climb any mountain or move mountains when called upon.

This is the Deja Reviewer bidding you farewell until we meet again.

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