Die Geierwally (1940)





Wally is the only child of Fender, a wealthy widower who is a mountain farmer in the Ötztal valley in the Tyrolian Alps. She is young, beautiful, daring, and most of all, determined. When she takes great risks to catch a vulture's young from its nest, she gains the respect of her father but also the disdain of Bear-Joseph, who is an assistant hunter to the local squire. He mockingly calls her "Geierwally" (Vulture-Wally) because he believes that young women shouldn't wear pants and climb around in the mountains hunting. However, he is unaware that Wally is deeply in love with him and too proud to admit it. To complicate matters, her father wants her to marry Vinzenz, a neighboring farmer. But Wally, who hates with hatred for Vinzenz and burning desire for Joseph, refuses. In a fit of rage, Fender bludgeons her with a heavy stick, and when she still doesn't comply, he banishes her to a solitary hut high up in the mountains, where she must survive in the snow and ice beyond the clouds until she gives in. She leaves with Hansl, the vulture she has tamed, as her only companion.


Film programs

Illustrierter Film-Kurier Berlin nr. 3122

Books with substantial mentioning of Die Geierwally

Cinzia Romani
Die Filmdiven im Dritten Reich
München, 1982

Christa Bandmann / Joe Hembus
Klassiker des Deutschen Tonfilms, 1930-1960
München, 1980

Books related to Die Geierwally

H.W. Heinrich
Geierwally
Berlin, 1940