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.

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.

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 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.

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 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).