The Daily News Leader from Staunton, Virginia • 70

I SftmntSn, Vfc, Sunday Naws, Leader, August 24-30, 19 TPI P-PII77I Pr i Compleat Carpenter available on video Carpenter who gave his OK and whose signature and pnoto grace the cassette box evidently forgot all about it. "I have no idea what that is," he confesses. That's probably because he and his accountants have to keep track of so many other video releases. Aside from the two already mentioned, Carpenter fans can savor his little-seen, much-admired "Assault on Precinct 13" (Media, $55), the director's 1976 updating of Howard Hawks' "Rio Bravo." Horror buffs can find 1978's "The Fog" (Classic Family Entertainment, $40), 2 3 5 7 9 10 i Ti Ts 16 Ti 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 bo LJ I I 31 32 33" 34 35 36 37 38 39" 40 41 42 43 44 l45 46 1 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 By Frank Lovece With the natural exception of his current movie, "Big Trouble in Little China," every feature film John Carpenter has directed appears on video. His 1978 chiller "Halloween" (Media, $20) has for years been the most successful independent movie on tape and disc.

Despite his video availability, Carpenter says he's unconcerned about fine-tuning or supervising his films' video releases. John Carpenter HARMER'S HOLLYWOOD ACROSS Pickles: British doesn't mean better 1,4 Shown, Melissa on "Falcon Crest" 10 Strain 13 Belonging to "Who's the Boss?" star 14 IDforRey 15 Today, in Spain 16 "Now I me down to sleep 17 American in Paris" 18 Blushing 20 He's Dex Dexter 22 Saloon stock 23 Genetic material 24 Fabray, to friends 25 "To With Love" 26 Paradise 29 Actor Baldwin TVDIALOGU 31 French article 32 "Magnum, 33 Mark on "One Day at a Time" 35 "The of Night" 38 Food fish 39 Dance step 42 Siamese coin 44 Washington bill 45 Connery and Penn 47 F-J linkage 48 Prefix for not 49 Actress Balin 50 Goal 52 Printer's measure 53 He was Jack Tripper 55 Happily 57 Bristly plant 58 Door opener 38 "Night 39 Miss Bailey 40 Rough lava 41 Irregular tooth 43 Tim 45 Snicker 46 Type of material 49 a Living" 51 Actress West 54 He was Capt. Greer: init. 56 "Bewitched" star: init. SOLUTION DOWN 1982's "The Thing" (MCA, $80) and the 1983 adaptation of Stephen King's novel "Christine" (RCAColumbia, $80).

Carpenter's two science-fiction movies are also on tape and disc: 1981's "Escape from New York" (Embassy, $40 list) and 1984's "Starman" (RCA-Columbia, $80). Since "Big Trouble in Little China" is a 20th Century Fox release, it will probably appear on the CBSFox label, which the studio co-owns. Whether Carpenter's TV movies "Elvis" (1979) and "Someone Is Watching Me" (1978) will ever be put on video is even less certain. Christina Pickles ty of rotten English actors," she says. "I went to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts with Albert Finney, among others, and the only time we felt we were doing something useful was when we copied the American way of teaching acting and improvised.

At that time, improvisation was unheard of in London all they wanted was to teach you the right way to say, 'Pass the salt' "I don't think the current obsession with putting Brits on TV has anything to do with them being better actors," she says. "I think it's snobbery." Alexandra Paul 'Getting Physical' CBS Aug. 30 '1 1 i fee KttMK IMMnn1)IHilwir tr team "Thev olav best in the movie theater," the director asserts. "The rest of it is just whatever happens. I wish (programmers) would use videoTV versions that had a combination of full-screen and wide-screen for, say, action scenes but you can't convince them.

When (the high-action) 'Big Trouble in Little China' goes onto video oh, brother!" he laughs knowingly. It's ironic, then, to find Carpenter's cult-classic debut film "Dark Star" (1974) available on video in a wide-screen version eight minutes longer than the original theatrical release. "Dark Star," Carpenter's seminal sci-fi parody, began life as a 45-minute student film starring and co-written by Dan O'Bannon; movie producerdistributor Jack H. Harris then put up most of the money to fill it out to 83 minutes. Years later, O'Bannon re-edited and re-mastered the film specifically for video, and United Entertainment (formerly VCI) now offers it as the 91-minute "Dark Star: The Special Edition" Yet Junction," but we can't seem to put it all together.

Can you help as? R.C., North Augusta, S.C. I could if you were here and I could sing it to you. But since you aren't, try your local library for books of popular TV theme songs. If that fails, write to CBS, which originally aired the show, and tell them you'd like the lyrics and music. The network's address is 51 West 52nd Street, New York, NY 10019, attention Audience Services.

SONGWRITER I have written 25 country gospel songs and would appreciate the name of a publishing company that is interested in this type of music. F.P., Iras-burg, Vt. It's always a good idea to copyright such material before sending it anywhere. That's done through the Library of Congress in Washing ton, D.C. Then, to find an appropriate publisher, you could nt cording companies and ask for a recommendation.

Most of BOOK 'EM AGAIN Since a o.i. such a tremendous success, is it possible that the first "North and South" will be shown again? D.M., Fresno, Calif. Several popular miniseries, aw-u inornpiros, the network and let them know you'd like to see "Book again. (c) 1M4, TV Spotlight (Send your letters to Toni Reinhold, United Feature Syn- Cicate, 200 Hark Room 602, New York, N.Y. 10166.

Due to the large volume of mail, personal replies cannot be given.) 1 Actor Pacino 2 To the degree 3 A long time 4 Mel 5 Fabricator 6 "Miami Vice" snitch 7 He's Jason Colby: init. 8 Kind of type 9 He was Lou Grant 10 Jamie 1 1 With 12 Down, "Beverly Hillbillies" star 12 See 11 Down 19 Father 21 Prosecutor: abbr. 22 Enzyme 27 "Tarzan" star 28 Actor Beatty 29 Mimic 30 Top 33 She was Ann Romano 34 Lyric poem 36 Trick 37 Miss Merman HAMMER'S BACK Now that CBS is bringing back "Mike Hammer" with the great actor Stacy Keach, when will it be aired and where can I write to the star? C.M.H., Jamestown, N.Y. i i Stacy Keach "The New Mike Hammer" will air Saturdays from 9 to 10 FT i.iu. yiai ocnu mail ncdiu Lhi? pJ.

IT' Sli, neV1' BuSntcAla9f5b5ROOm thae ZSIT' that George Lucas made three Wars" that were part of the saga? J.S., St. Mary's, Pa. No. "Star Wars" was the first in the series and premiered in 1977. It was fol- 1nwt hw "Tho EWr I' By Ian Harmer HOLLYWOOD The casting Anglomania of "Dynasty" producers Aaron Spelling and Esther Shapiro has made English actors a TV fad in Hollywood but you won't see Christina Pickles of "St.

Elsewhere" waving a Union Jack or shouting 'rah for royalty. Even movie and stage veteran Charlton Heston supports the ShapiroSpelling notion that British actors are classier and better trained than their homegrown counterparts, to which Pickless replies: "Give me a break!" What she actually wants is a break for American actors, and that's a disarming ambition for a graduate of London's top drama school. She came to the United States on vacation nearly three decades ago, and liked it so much, she stayed. Only the most loyal "St. Elsewhere" devotees will be aware that Nurse Helen Rosenthal of St.

Eligius Hospital is a Brit. She doesn't speak as if she has plums in her mouth, she's fluent in American and her accent is indeterminate. A two-part flashback episode last season revealed the gutsy nurse's true origins, but the idea came from the producers, not from Pickles. "The moment I started working here, I made the decision that I wasn't going to limit my career by behaving as if it was somehow elite to be British," she says. "So many English actors who come here seem to think they're playing Noel Coward, but since the vast majority of roles are written for Americans, I decided it made sense to be one! "That's been my policy all along," she continues.

"I miss some things about England, but this is my home. I have American kids, and I have always wanted to meld in. "PBS helps foster the idea that all British TV shows are wonderful and all English actors are terrific, but the truth is that Britain only exports the good stuff, and there are plen- rV 3 Aim t.s a 3 IflTT a 3P i vL nTjjn 1 aMs 3 SHE 1 1 vp.7Tsvffi.J0 0 a 1 si jn vTn TTv 11 3i5 1 NjJai jd vQa 1 10 hQI SI HSU 3 i TIT vl HDl ilnlvIivlNilvr Sale On RaMr" anH -R3n Xi thl have been aired after their tialsuccess.Youcouldwriteto Purchase a select Model MAYTAG RAXSE or JETCLEAN DISHWASHER and receive your choice of a Regal La Machine- I food processor or 7 piece set Professional Series Aluminum Cookware. all three and the stars were Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher. There is talk of three "Star Wars" films that take place before the ex- isting trilogy, but they are still in me planning stages.

MEMORY LAPSE My friend and I have been trying for weeks to remember the theme song from "Petticoat.