Blood in the Chalet

One of my favorite movies is The Party.

It's a 1968 hilarious showcase of Hollywood glamour and wacky shenanigans.

The film revolves around a bumbling, yet lovable, struggling Indian actor who is accidentally invited to a ritzy movie studio honcho's sophisticated party.

The love interest in the film always takes my breath away every time I watch it. Her name is Claudine Longet.

The daintily beautiful French pop star plays an up-and-coming actress in the comedy. She's divine.

But her life has been anything but.

This is her story.

When she was 18-years-old, the Paris-born Claudine was a sexy, but soft-spoken, showgirl struggling to make ends meet in Las Vegas. One day, her car had broken down on the side of the road, and she stood there helplessly, unsure about what to do. A fancy car pulled over, and out stepped Andy Williams, one of the biggest pop stars in the world. The 32-year-old heartthrob was so enamoured with the exquisite French beauty, he asked her out on the spot. They married a year later.

For the next decade, their life was a dazzling Hollywood fairytale. They jet-setted around the world, drinking champagne at extravagant parties with their closest friends, such as Barbra Streisand and the Kennedys.

They lounged by their crystal blue pool at their Palm Beach home.

They rocked the red carpet at movie premieres.

Claudine's career was skyrocketing, with television appearances, hit singles, and film offers.

Andy's career was also at an all-time high, with a new televised variety show, top billing at Cesar's Palace in Las Vegas, and radio hits.

During the 1960s, they had three children who they absolutely adored.

But by the late 1960s, their perfect world started to unravel.

Their best friend, Robert Kennedy, was assassinated on the very day they were supposed to spend the evening with him.

Soon, the tabloids started blasting rumors that the handsome Andy was having a sizzling affair with Robert's widow, Ethel Kennedy.

Along with their tragic loss and facing such a humiliating scandal, the couple realized, after 14 years of marriage, they were no longer in love. Andy no longer felt fireworks every time he looked in his beautiful wife's eyes. Claudine admitted she couldn't stand the sight of him. They divorced so amicably, they decided to use the same lawyer.

After the divorce, Claudine met and fell in love with an Olympic medalist and skier, "Spider" Vladimir Peter Sabich Jr. She and her three children quickly moved into his Aspen home, which was a jolt of reality for the swinging ladies' man.

His friends noticed that he was becoming increasingly unhappy with the relationship. They noticed Claudine was clingy and jealous. Spider told them he wanted to break up with Claudine, but she refused to let it happen.

On a fateful afternoon in 1976, Claudine was sitting in their spacious chalet, waiting for her kids to come home from school. But Spider came home first. He decided to shower and get ready for a party the two were attending that night.

Claudine walked into the bathroom, as he was disrobing, and with a pistol, shot him. His blood drowned the bathroom floor. He died in her arms on the way to the emergency room.

Andy rushed to Aspen to comfort his ex-wife, and it turned out, she needed it. Desperately. Although she told police that the shooting was a complete accident (Spider had been teaching her how to use the gun, she claimed) the city of Aspen had a different opinion.

People in the ritzy Colorado town practically spit on her in the streets and deemed her a murderess.

She was charged with reckless manslaughter.

Her murder trial became one of the most sensationalized events of the 1970s. It was the first crime to make the cover of People magazine. The Rolling Stones even recorded a song about Claudine.

And although the world delighted in branding the European glamourpuss "guilty" she had the staunch support of her ex-husband Andy, who fervently believed she was telling the truth. He even said so on stand, much to the astonishment of the courtroom.

In Claudine's favor, the trial ended up being botched. Dim-witted policemen mishandled evidence, making the most damning clues inadmissible in court. Among the mishandled evidence included a blood test proving Claudine had been under the influence of cocaine during the shooting and her diary, which documented her troubled relationship with the famous athlete.

With those two pieces of circumstantiial evidence thrown out, the prosecuting attorney didn't stand a chance of hanging her for murder. Claudine was merely found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and issued to spend 30 days in county jail. Spider's family was disgusted with the verdict.

As if that wasn't enough, Claudine shocked the world even further by jumping into a steamy affair with her married defense attorney, Ron Austin. The two wed in 1985 and still reside in Aspen today.

Despite her tarnished reputation, Claudine is considered a musical legend. Her catchy pop songs and heart wrenching ballads are still popular today. More and more young people are buying her albums.

And then there are people who continue to fall in love with Claudine the minute she smiles on film with shy uncertainty, gazing up with her big doe eyes, and it's easy to understand why Andy Williams came to a screeching halt that sunny afternoon on the Las Vegas strip.

What do you think of Claudine?