Auf der grünen Wiese (1953)

Vera is just a few days away from her 25th birthday, when she is to inherit her late father’s estate. Until now, it has been managed by Heinz Huber, and Vera has received a share of its income. Since her father’s death, she has lived with her uncle; her father had always spoiled her. Her uncle thinks it is wrong that Vera is interested only in the money from the estate, yet has not gone there to see how things are going for years. Now, five days before the estate is to pass into Vera’s hands, Heinz Huber goes to the city to take care of some initial formalities. Vera, driving at high speed, hits his car, and the two snap at each other in the street without realizing who the other is. Vera has good reason to be worried: she does not have a driver’s license, and the car belongs to her lover, the shady Kurt von Arnoldi. He pretends to be rich and regularly takes Vera to horse races, where his horse Diana often wins. He plans to give Diana to Vera for their planned engagement and, after they marry, use her money not only to pay off his substantial debts but also to start a horse-breeding business. To do so, large areas of the estate’s forest would have to be cleared and most of the surrounding fields sold. Vera naively agrees to his proposals. At her uncle’s behest, Vera travels with Kurt to the estate a few days before she is due to inherit it. She is given a joyful welcome. Heinz recognizes her as the reckless driver, and she recognizes him too. At first, both keep the incident to themselves. Vera soon makes it clear that she has no intention of keeping the estate intact. This causes alarm in the area, since many farmers have houses on land leased from the estate. The first thing Vera plans to do is terminate the leases. Among others, this would force Borstl, the forest caretaker, to leave his home after 18 years. Tentative resistance begins to stir. Borstl comes up with a plan to bring Vera and Heinz together, but Heinz has no intention of marrying Vera, as the plan envisages. Dutifully, Heinz shows Vera her property, with its extensive fields and woodlands, and she comes to like the area. She dismisses his warnings that her plans would destroy all this beauty as mere disparagement and refuses to listen. During one of their rides, a storm blows in, and Heinz and Vera take shelter in his cabin in the woods. At first, it looks as though they might have a romantic encounter, especially since Borstl not only makes off with the horses but also sends them a food basket. But when Heinz accuses Vera of being superficial, they fall out. That very evening, Heinz resigns and plans to leave the next morning—the morning Vera is to inherit the estate. Shortly before the will is read, the debt collector Welisch confronts Vera and Kurt and shows Vera a promissory note bearing her signature, which Kurt had given him as security. But Vera has never signed such a note: Kurt forged her signature to buy time and pay off his debts with her money after they married. Kurt now gives Welisch his horse Daisy, the only valuable thing he owns. Realizing he has overplayed his hand, Kurt leaves Vera and the estate. The reading of the will brings a surprise. Vera’s father stipulated that she would inherit the estate only if she had never announced that she intended to sell it off in parts. Since she did exactly that, the entire inheritance passes to the manager, Heinz. As before, Vera is entitled only to a share of the estate’s income. Borstl and the village men hurry to the railway line and stop a passing train. They pull Heinz off and tell him that he is the heir to the estate. Heinz then rushes off to bring Vera back; she too has now left. The story ends happily.