Hedda Koppé

The film traces Uli's progress from his humble peasant surroundings to the homes of the wealthy and prominent. The characterizations are convincing, and the comic interludes surprisingly subtle and believable for a Swiss film. The no-star cast doomed Uli Der Knecht from the start so far as American distribution was concerned. It was another matter in Switzerland, where the film was one of the year's top moneymakers. Uli der Knecht was based on a novel by Jeremias Gottbelf.

The trials of the wealthy Emmentaler farming family Jowäger, adapted from the 19th century novel of the same name by Jeremias Gotthelf (pen-name of Albert Bitzius), which was also published in two parts.

The farmers of a village decide to postpone the construction of a new school in profit of a concentration to cheese production. From a novel by Jeremias Gotthelf.

Verena, a farm servant, gives birth to a little girl and for the happiness of her child, tries for nearly twenty years to bend the selfishness of the seducer who did not marry her. When she returns to the village, she has worn herself out at work, but she has the consolation of seeing her daughter's future assured.

Uli has been the tenant of the "Glunggen-farm" for two years. His wife Vreneli gave him two children and the couple is happy. But this year, the harvest looks bad and his landlord calls in the rent, as the old man urgently needs money to satisfy the demands of his son and stepson. Desperate to make ends meet, Uli fraudulently sells a cow knowing that she does not produce any milk. He is pursued in court but is acquitted. But then, the buyer curses him... and disaster promptly strikes.

The further trials of the wealthy Emmentaler farming family Jowäger and their neighbors, adapted from the second volume of the 19th century novel by Jeremias Gotthelf (pen-name of Albert Bitzius).

Gottfried and Sophie Kummer live freely and independently with their six boys in a modest cottage in the countryside. Although the cottage has neither electricity nor running water and must be heated with wood, the small wages of a construction worker are not enough to meet all their obligations. Especially since the former owner, Mayor Lüthi, still has a mortgage on the cottage, on which the Kummer family must pay interest. And this interest makes life difficult for the Kummer family. Then a stranger appears who would like to buy the cottage as a vacation home. But for the Kummers, it is their home! Mayor Lüthi, however, senses a big deal, promises the stranger the house, and at the same time gives the Kummer family a final payment deadline for the interest until the end of the month. So it is the six Kummer boys who take up the fight to save their cottage.