Silver Screen (May-Oct 1937)

Down The Alountainsidc On His Winged Skis Came A Royal Prince Who Searched For Love — And L,tli. The strategic ambassadors saw the happiness of Lili (Sonja Henie), but Uncle Dornik (Raymond Walburn) hinted that there had been a lovers' quarrel. T WAS not snowing in St. Christophe. That simple statement sums up a wealth of Alpine tragedy that could not be told in volumes. Imagine Hollywood without the movies, Florida without a grapefruit, New England without a fried clam! Imagine any catastrophe you like and throw in a pack of St. Bernards for good measure and still you will have only the foggiest idea of the pall of gloom which had descended upon St. Christophe, (Altitude 2100 Meters). The Grand Hotel Imperial was empty and its vast corridors and mammoth modernistic lobby echoed only the despairing footfalls of its harassed manager, Herr Krantz. The Paris-Constantinople Express had just passed through and not one tourist alighted. Why? No snow! It was snowing at St. Gothard. St. Moritz had six feet. St. Felipe was snowed in. And St. Christophe stewed under a tropic sun and faced utter ruin! No snow, no tourists. No tourists, no business! Eight words and they spelled the doom of St. Christophe. In the cowshed behind her humble cottage, Lili Heiser milked a Swiss cow to the tinkling strains of a Swiss music box operated by her Swiss boy friend Alex. Lili was the skating instructor at the Grand Hotel Imperial and she had nothing better to do than Bordenize the cow. She was lovely as the Edelwiss, this Lili Heiser. Her eyes were the vivid blue of a mountain lake— merry, shining eyes set in cheeks that blushed the delicate pink of Alpine sunrise. She was dimpled and delicately curved like the contours of the snow clad mountainsides— when there was snow. And the adoring Alex, who contented the cow with music while she milked, found her heart as unmeltable as the core of an Alpine glacier. Lili didn't knowit, but she was saving her love for a Prince. At the Grand Hotel Imperial the telephone rang. An official of the Foreign Office was on the wire, regardless of expense. "I wish to make reservations. Could you possibly manage to let us have eighty one rooms and three suites?" For a moment there was no answer. Herr Krantz had swooned. Unaware of that, the Foreign Office secretary went on explaining. An international conference was planned. The signatories of : three power pact wished to move into St. Christophe. Naturally, they must have the very best of everything, regardless of expense. Herr Krantz revived in time to say he thought the accommodations could be arranged. "Pardon me. What was that? I didn t hear you . . . ?" ' Herr Krantz's face turned livid with despair. "Snow? ... On . . snow!" Herr Krantz plunged. He was gambling his shirt, but a desperate hotel manager must be prepared to gamble his shirt or else go into bankruptcy. "Of course there's snow in St. Christophe," cried Herr Krantz. "The best snow in the Alps. Yes sir, and excellent skiing . . . Yes . . . yes . . . goodbye!" There was onlv one thing left to do, that was for the village to pray. St. Christophe, including everybody from the cradle to dotage' went down on its knees and prayed for snow. And that night, while the church bells pealed joyously, while the delirious villagers laughed and danced and yodeled, snow fell upon St. Christophe and when the Prince came into Lili Heiser '3 heretofore humble life, he came bringing his skns along. In the international game that was staged at the Grand Hotel Imperial Prince Rudolph held the balance of power. So long as he could keep two hereditary enemies, represented by a Count and a Baron, fighting with each other the prince served his country well. If once the Count and the Baron got together and ganged up against him, all was lost. Prince Rudolph, who had a sense of humor and a fondness for skiing saw that the best way he could serve his native land was to keep out of the picture. He arrived at St. Christophe supposedly the victim of a bad cold and retired behind closed doors in his imperial suite at the Grand Hotel Imperial. That left the Count and the Baron to plot against each other. The second point in Prince Rudolph's program was easily arranged. Disguised by smoked glasses he sneaked away to a humbler lodging, the' Village Inn. There as plain Rudolph Miller, he was free to go out and ski to his heart s content. Rudolph was enjoying a cup of coffee from his thermos flask when he first met Lili. She had skied down a mountainside and was travelling like a comet-a pink, dimpled, delightful young 56