Polanski prepares for luxury Alpine house arrest

The village of 3,500 full-time residents has cultivated its image as a haven of luxury since Swiss boarding schools set up their winter campuses here for the children of industrialists and aristocrats a century ago.

The locals' relaxed attitude to celebrities is typical in Switzerland and especially pronounced in Gstaad, where a "don't stare, don't tell" mentality has lured stars such as Roger Moore and Richard Burton away from the limelight at home.

"We prefer discretion," said Mayor Aldo Kropf. "That's why people come here."

Polanski also will get the same treatment from Swiss police, who have vowed to handle his transfer quietly.

"We don't want to show him off like an exotic animal," Justice Ministry spokesman Folco Galli told The Associated Press.

The bail decision was a major win for the director of "Rosemary's Baby," "Chinatown" and "The Pianist" after a series of legal setbacks following his Sept. 26 arrest on a U.S. warrant as he arrived in Zurich to receive a lifetime achievement award at a film festival.

Polanski was accused of raping a 13-year-old girl after plying her with champagne and a Quaalude pill during a modeling shoot in 1977. He was initially indicted on six felony counts, including rape by use of drugs, child molesting and sodomy, but he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of unlawful sexual intercourse.

In exchange, the judge agreed to drop the remaining charges and sentence him to prison for a 90-day psychiatric evaluation. The evaluator released Polanski after 42 days, but the judge said he was going to send him back to serve out the 90 days.

Polanski then fled the United States on Feb. 1, 1978, the day he was to be sentenced, and has lived in France since. He claims the U.S. judge and prosecutors acted improperly in his case, and his attorneys will argue before a California appeals court next month that the charges should be