Der Feuerteufel (1940)

Carinthia, 1809. Just as in neighboring Tyrol, where freedom-loving Andreas Hofer and his men are rising up against Napoleonic oppression, woodcutter Valentin Sturmegger—known to everyone as “the Fire Devil”—is also planning to free his beloved homeland from the yoke of the French occupiers. He smuggles proclamations calling for revolt past French outposts and carries out pinprick attacks, such as raids on French officers. When he is caught during one of his actions, Maria Schmiederer, the daughter of the insurgents’ commander, helps him escape; she deeply admires his courage. One day, Valentin repays her kindness. When Maria’s father is about to be arrested, Valentin impersonates him and allows himself to be taken into custody, even though he faces the death penalty. He survives his own execution by firing squad through a ruse: he pretends to have been fatally hit, then escapes the following night. When he turns up alive and well at a secret meeting, his loyal followers think they are seeing a ghost. At the last moment, Sturmegger prevents Commander Schmiederer, who sees no point in continuing to fight against the overwhelming French forces, from signing a document of surrender. Valentin now takes charge of the daring band himself. To secure imperial backing, Sturmegger travels to Vienna. He wants to ask Archduke Johann for support, but the shrewd political operator Metternich has just banished him to Graz. The Carinthians’ situation seems increasingly hopeless. It is Napoleon himself, impressed by Sturmegger’s audacity, who wants to meet him in Vienna. He offers the Carinthian a military career in his army, but Valentin brusquely rejects the offer. When the little Corsican then tries to have him arrested, Valentin Sturmegger escapes with the help of the Marquise de Chanel. Back home, he urges his countrymen to attack the French wherever they can. But the traitor Rafael Kröss threatens to wreck his plan by leading French troops directly behind his lines. The Austrian freedom fighters suffer heavy losses, and Schmiederer is killed as well. For a time, Sturmegger has to flee into the mountains and go into hiding. At last, however, the tide turns in 1813, and the French usurpers are driven out of the country. Finally, the woodcutter can look out over a liberated land and return to his wife and child, to resume his true work in peacetime.