Un anciano paralítico ha pensado el golpe perfecto, pero para llevarlo a cabo necesita cinco socios. Después de triunfar en la empresa, los cinco matan al viejo para no dividir con él el botín, lo cual desencadena una serie de venganzas.
They live behind the rails of the classification yard in a small and shabby hut. They take the days as they come, refuse to work on principle and pinch together their livelihood. The three tramps Dürst, Barbarossa and Clown are content with what they have and ignore the outside world, and so far they have fared well. Until now...
The sculptor Andreas promised his seriously ill childhood friend before her death that he would take care of her daughter Heidemarie. While his application for custody is going through the authorities, the young girl comes to her uncle and his wife. Both treat Heidemarie badly so she spends most of the time with Andreas and the hunchback beggar boy Peter. Finally, the time has come: Andreas is granted custody and also takes Peter in with him.
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 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.
