“The Swiss film of the Swiss people!”

In 1947 Brückenbauer encouraged members of the cooperative to underwrite shares in Praesens-Film AG. With this financial backing, Praesens produced the post-war drama Die Gezeichneten (The Search), an Oscar-winning Swiss film with Gottlieb Duttweiler as its unofficial godfather.

In 1947, Gottlieb Duttweiler makes a forceful request to the readers of the Brückenbauer: “If the Swiss film industry is important to you, then help with the further expansion of Praesens-Film AG.” The company, with which Migros has been financially involved for four years, builds a new studio and makes preparations for the film Die Gezeichneten, a co-production with Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Star actors such as Montgomery Clift and Fred Zinnemann, later the director of High Noon, are taken on for the film.
For this ambitious project, Praesens-Film requires new capital. Three thousand minority shareholders respond to Duttweiler’s appeal and a total of CHF600,000 is raised. “It is heart-warming that here something big has been achieved by little people,” rejoices the Brückenbauer: “It is a step on the way towards the world reputation of Swiss films!”
And it is a fact that Die Gezeichneten is the most successful Swiss film ever. The story of a boy who survives Auschwitz and becomes friends with an American soldier moves the audience and is praised by the critics. The New York Times writes: “Our earnest wish is that it might be seen by every adult in the United States.” The film received four Oscar nominations, an Oscar for Best Motion Picture Story and a special prize for the child actor, Ivan Jandl. Without Gottlieb Duttweiler and his belief in the power of the little people, there would not have been the financial resources for this success.