Billy Wilder on Assignment by Noah Isenberg

Author:Noah Isenberg
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2021-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

The Tiller Girls’ Boarding School at the Prater

The sixteen girls who paid a visit to the Prater in Vienna on a sunny spring day about a week ago—stylish, English-speaking, and walking two by two—were regarded by most of the passersby as the schoolchildren of a prestigious boarding school, particularly because an older woman was guarding them and ordering them about at every turn. But the fact that this girls’ excursion included some young men and a photographer whose right hand carried a tripod and whose round back hauled a massive camera, not to mention the striking snazziness of all these girls, had to indicate to any viewer, assuming he was halfway intelligent and had studied the newspapers of the past few days and was able to tell the difference between English and Serbian, that these were the Tiller Girls.

On the first day of their stay in Vienna, these wonderful girls discovered the Apollo Theater; on the second day, St. Stephen’s Tower, the bar at the Sacher Hotel, and the Diana Spa; and on the third, they headed off to the Prater; a little ride on a scenic railway, a little Viennese coffee—the best in the world—a little “merry-go-round”: awful nice!

A Tiller Girl is pretty, stylish, pleasant, reasonably well educated, graceful, quick-witted, tactful, diplomatic, sweet; a Tiller Girl is all of that. Each one: Esther, Marjorie, Hilda I, Hilda II, Dorothy, Mabel, Lilian, Winnie, Maisie, Vera, Molly, Olive, Joyce, Flossie, Jessie, and Edith.

They all have the same taste, all hold the same opinion. They are one single entity, one single organism, all relying on the others. No individuality here. The absolute democracy.

“Mightn’t, say, the Hoffmann Girls be better?”

A single cry of indignation makes the rounds, from Tiller Girl to Tiller Girl. Then there’s a chorus: Tiller Girls—often copied, never equaled.

They rode on the roller coaster four times, and found that quite a bit of fun. They were also delighted with the Ferris wheel: Vienna …! They stayed at the bumper car arena for a fun-filled half-hour. Each of them ate three portions of ice cream in some little confectionery. They shot at eggshells dancing on a water jet. They took so much pleasure in everything. But, being Englishwomen, they didn’t want to ride the chariots with little donkeys harnessed to them, nor did they want to ride on the carousel with the chamber pots; they’re ladies.

The littlest things captured their interest: they had to be everywhere. For Director Alexander from the Apollo and the charming Fritz Jacobsohn from Haller, this was serious business. And they always had to give in. How could they possibly resist entreaties from sweet Marjorie? Or a friendly kiss from Winnie?

Delightful people. Excursions should only be made with Tiller Girls. Perhaps it is the allure of the foreign language, perhaps the spontaneity of the girls, who are only kids. Great fun is had. One of the Hildas has hidden Jacobsohn’s hat. Jessie is about to tuck a colorful piece of paper under Director Alexander’s jacket collar, Mabel

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