Menace on the Mountain (1970)

Mitch Vogel is Jamie McIver, a teenager forced to become man of the household while his father is away fighting in the Civil War.

That household includes his mother Leah (Pat Crowley) and younger siblings Mark (Eric Shea) and Suellen (Jodie Foster).

And there are challenges aplenty: a panther wreaking havoc around the countryside, a tax bill coming due and a mean neighbor named Poss Timmerlake (Albert Salmi).

Timmerlake has his eyes on the McIver family’s land. He has his eyes on Leah too, especially since rumor has it that Jed McIver was wounded in the war and might not have survived.

Jamie helps by setting out to collect the sorely needed $35 bounty on the panther.

But he doesn’t always live up to his own expections. When the family is hungry, he can’t bring himself to shoot his pet pig Blossom.

And when an escaped Yankee prisoner his family finds decides to flee the McIver home, Jamie can’t bring himself to shoot the man.

The biggest challenge is yet to come. Now an outcast, Poss Timmerlake is leading a band of well-armed bushwhackers. And he decides the McIver home would make a wonderful headquarters.

Mitch Vogel as Jamie McIver, quieting his pet pig blossom when a panther shows up in Menace on the Mountain (1970)

Albert Salmi as Poss Timmerlake, insulted by Jamie and his mom in Menace on the Mountain (1970)

Review:

This movie was originally broadcast as a two-part episode on The Wonderful World of Disney in March 1970. It was released theatrically in 1972.

And, yep, you read the synopsis right. That’s none other than a very young Jodie Foster as one of the McIver children. In her best scene, she wonders why the exhausted Yankee soldier her family takes in doesn’t have horns.

Mitch Vogel never achieved Jodie Foster-like stardom, but he had a solid run as a young actor, first appearing as one of Lucille Balls children in the 1968 comedy “Yours, Mine and Ours,” which also starred Henry Fonda.

He also had a two-year stint on “Bonanza,” joining the cast in 1970 as Jamie Hunter, an orphan taken in and eventually adopted by the Cartwright family.

As for this film, it’s standard Disney fare. Salmi, as the villain, and Pat Crowley, who tries her best to steer her growing son away from danger, turn in solid performances.

Jodie Foster as Suellen McIver, wondering why the Yank in her home doesn’t have horns while brother Mark (Eric Shea) looks on in Menace on the Mountain (1970)

Pat Crowley as Leah McIver, trying to teach son Jamie a lesson in treating others humanely in Menace on the Mountain (1970)

Directed by:
Vincent McEveety

Cast:
Pat Crowley … Leah McIver
Albert Salmi … Poss Timmerlake
Charles Aidman … Jed McIver
Mitch Vogel … Jamie McIver
Richard Anderson … Maj. Galt
Dub Taylor … Cicero Everhart
Eric Shea … Mark McIver
Kelton Garwood … Mr. Sykes
as John Harper
James Nusser … Ben Forrester
Dan Ferrone … Lt. Saunders
Jodie Foster … Suellen McIver
Gregg Palmer … Posse bushwacker

Runtime: 89 min.

Charles Aidman as Jed McIver, returning from war to learn bushwhackers have taken over his home in Menace of the Mountain (1970)

Dub Taylor as Cicero Everhart, advising Jamie McIver not to go after a panther in Menace on the Mountain (1970)

Memorable lines:

Jamie McGiver: “Mr. Everhart, what do you go up against when you try for a panther?”
Cicero Everhart: “Usually about 200 pounds of bones, muscle and claw and about 500 yards of meaness. Ain’t no job for a boy, Jamie.”

Suellen McIver, gazing at a wounded Yankee lying in bed in the McIver cabin: “Where’s his horns?”
Mark McIver: “What horns?”
Suellen: “I heard that all Yanks have horns.”

Poss Timmerlake: “Well, I tried to be decent with ya. You wouldn’t have it. So be it. But real soon now, I’ll be saying the ‘git.’ And you’ll all be doing the gittin’.”

Jamie of Poss Timmerlake: “I’d trade every inch of my soul for an hour of manhood so I could march up that mountain and kill him.”

Mitch Vogel as Jamie McIver and Pat Crowley as his mother in Menace on the Mountain (1970)

Richard Anderson as Maj. Galt, trying to sneak out of the McIver home in Menace on the Mountain (1970)

Eric Shea as Mark McIver and Jodie Foster as Suellen McIver in Menace on the Mountain (1970)

Mitch Vogel as Jamie McIver, defending his mother (Pat Crowley) in Menace on the Mountain (1970)