Madalena is a tough seventeen-year-old who is forced to take on her father's ferry business after he dies. She has her many brothers and sisters to support, and there is no one else to do the job. So she rallies her defenses and sets out to give her rival in the ferry business a run for his money. But at the same time, the rival's handsome son is starting to look better and better. Madalena refuses to acknowledge her feelings for him -- though how long she can sustain that denial is the question.
This immensely successful remake of the 1929 foustanella classic was directed by Dinos Dimopoulos and quickly established its stars (Dimitris Papamichael and the beautiful Aliki Vouyouklaki) as the Greek cinema's top box-office draws. The story itself rigidly follows the conventions of its subgenre, although because Greek filmmakers were still churning out foustanellas for decades afterward, it hardly seems more dated than the original. Once again, it tells the tale of Mitros (Titos Vandis), a wealthy herd owner with a foster daughter named Astero (Vouyouklaki) whom he marries off to another herd owner, despite the fact that she and his son Thimios (Papamichael) are desperately in love. The other herd owner dies and Astero loses her mind a bit (although she doesn't wig out quite as spectacularly as Aliki Theodoridou in the silent original), but Mitros finally comes to the right decision and allows the children to marry.
