Erwin C. Dietrich, the most successful and influential movie "entrepreneur" in Switzerland for decades, was fascinated by movies from his teenage years, observing Hollywood happenings from his home in St. Gallen. He abandoned his acting dreams early on and focused on identifying artistic trends appealing to audiences.
Starting in 1955, Erwin began producing movies with his company "Urania", achieving success with films like "The Man in the Black Derby" and "Model Husband", starring popular Swiss comedian Walter Roderer. As the "Edgar Wallace" thrillers gained popularity in Germany, Erwin brought "Nylon Noose" and "Strangler of the Tower" to the cinemas, starring German movie stars like Dietmar Schönherr.
In the mid-1960s, Erwin's movies increasingly featured sexually open themes, a trend he couldn't and didn't want to miss. An early example is "St. Pauli Between Night and Morning", characterized by an artistic arc between common thriller stories and newly discovered erotic appearances.
Erwin's directorial debut in 1968, the movie adaptation of Guy De Maupassant's novel "The Colonel's Nieces", hit the nerve of movie-goers and despite censored scenes, the audience showed up in droves. Over 45 more movies followed until 1980, often using pseudonyms like "Michael Thomas" or "Manfred Gregor" under the umbrella of "Elite-Film" (later "Ascot Film GmbH").
Most of these movies came to life in an informal environment, with a small crew in his studios in Rümlang, where set pieces were rearranged on the fly. Some highlights include movies starring Ingrid Steeger or French erotic star Brigitte Lahaie, which have advanced to cult status and are long-running favorites at movie festivals and in home cinemas worldwide.
Erwin often mentioned his favorite movie as his remake of "The Colonel's Nieves", starring Brigitte Lahaie. Jess Franco, who has been ridiculed as a cheap grunge director but received the "Goya" award, made 17 movies with Erwin C. Dietrich and called it the most productive and pleasant period of his career.
Movies like "Love Letters of a Portuguese Nun" or "Jack the Ripper", with divine performances by Klaus Kinski, are now highly praised by movie buffs worldwide, including industry friends and fans like Joe Dante and Quentin Tarantino (who once called Erwin the "Swiss Roger Corman").
Erwin's movie distribution business "Avis" flourished, bringing over 400 movies to local cinemas. He jumped on the "exploitation movie" bandwagon alone, yet this was not enough for movie buff Erwin. He was looking to get recognized at festivals and by the elite of film critics. And he got it.
The story of "Piera" produced by him and directed by Marco Ferreri, starring Isabelle Huppert and Marcello Mastroianni, may not have been a commercially comparable success to Erwin's other productions but turned into a huge hit at the festivals, with Hanna Schygulla receiving the "Golden Palm" in Cannes for her performance.
Even on an international level, things looked up: the action spectacle "The Wild Geese" co-produced with Euan Lloyd from Britain catapulted Erwin into an A-league unknown at that time and garnered him international recognition. The star-studded cast, including Richard Harris, Roger Moore, Richard Burton, and Hardy Krüger, did its share; the movie was seen by 4 million movie-goers in Germany alone and advanced to become a huge blockbuster in 1978, ultimately winning the "Goldene Leinwand" award.
Following this success, Erwin launched similar additional big productions on the big screen, including "Escape to Athena" and "The Sea Wolves". Convinced by their success, Erwin began production along with business partner Peter Baumgartner (and Peter's dubbing studios in Berlin, "Cinephon") three action spectacles to be shot in the Philippines.
Emphasized by a gigantic marketing campaign (including an ecstatic Klaus Kinski dominating the promo tour),Erwin released in the mid-80s the "mercenary trilogy" consisting of "Codename Wildgeese", "Commando Leopard", and "The Commander" on the big screen. The Hollywood cast, including Klaus Kinski, Ernest Borgnine, and Lee Van Cleef, impressed everyone.
During that time, Erwin also opened up the first cinema-multiplex in Switzerland called "Capitol". Later, he expanded it with the "Cinemax". In the beginning of the 90s, after the dance movie "Dance Academy 2 - Dance to Win", the two Swiss comedies "Ein Schweizer namens Nötzli" and "Der Doppelte Nötzli", as well as over 100 other productions, Erwin retired from the active movie production business and committed himself
