It was a sour ending to an otherwise happy holiday. For three weeks Christina Onassis, 32, had frolicked on the beaches of Skorpios, made side trips to other Greek islands and nibbled--well, all right, feasted--on the local cuisine. But when the heiress boarded her personal Learjet to fly home to Nice, France, from Aktion military airport last week, an official took her passport and forbade her to leave the country. Reason: a pending court case in which the Greek government claims that Christina owes $33 million worth of inheritance taxes on her father's property. That was when Christina began throwing her weight around. She furiously paced the runway, screaming at everyone in sight and demanding to speak with her lawyer and Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou. After three hours, permission for her departure came through from an unknown--but obviously influential--source. The incident left red faces in its wake. Said Elefterios Kaloyannis, an M.P. for the conservative New Democracy Party: "We have ridiculed ourselves abroad for the treatment we gave Miss Onassis." Meanwhile, the Ministry of Economy was trying to determine who issued the detention order.

His unrestrained performances with Clint Eastwood in Any Which Way You Can (1980) and with Bo Derek in Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981) exuded an unmistakable animal magnetism. So now TV's trend venders have bestowed their ultimate accolade on Mr. Smith, 12: a show of his own with his name featured in the title, no less. In the NBC comedy series premiering this month, the 4-ft., 165-lb. orangutan plays a superintelligent primate who works for a Government-funded think tank in Washington, D.C. "Although physically still an orangutan, he has the mental capabilities of an Einstein," explains Mr. Smith Co-Creator Ed Weinberger. "Because of that, he becomes a valuable resource to this country, eventually getting involved in everything from MX missile policy to landmark legal cases." Gee whiz, and if the ratings ever flag, the producer could bring in Lassie as his secretary and Mr. Ed as his spokesanimal and Flipper as an offshore oil specialist, and..

They came to discuss the fleeting nature of political power, a subject on which all five were experts. Gathered together, along with nearly 100 economists, diplomats and businessmen for the Vail Foundation and American Enterprise Institute's second annual World Forum in Vail, Colo., were former President Gerald Ford, 70, an Institute Fellow; Helmut Schmidt, 64, Chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982; Valery Giscard d'Estaing, 57, President of France from 1974 to 1981; James Callaghan, 71, Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1976 to 1979; and Malcolm Fraser, 53, who was defeated as Prime Minister of Australia in March after eight years in office. During their three-day stay at the scenic mountain resort, the five former leaders reminisced, and criticized the policies of their successors. "What we have here," said a less than serious Schmidt, "is a beautiful experience: a conspiracy of former world leaders against present world leaders. But thank God none of us has the power to alter anything any more." --By Guy D. Garcia

On the Record

Mimi Sheraton, after resigning a seven-year stint as the New York Times's restaurant critic: "I want to stop eating for a while."

Clarence Long, 74, U.S. Representative, on the low re-enlistment rate among Salvadoran soldiers: "They may be illiterate, ignorant peasants, but they're not that stupid."

Bill Blass, 61, fashion designer: "L. A. stinks, and I can say that because I'm not running for anything." This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.