The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • 63

A Ui -V (' 4 33 7 1 Lj SECTION FRIDAY. October 7, 1983 Success was Bond to happen for pi I ii I Mr 1 I A If I MOVIES By Bart Mills Special to The Journal-Constitution Moviemakers represented on the local scene this week include Luchino Visconti, Francois Truffaut, Elia Kazan, Francis Ford Coppola, Woody Allen, William Friedkin, Ingmar Bergman, Nagisa Oshima, Irvin Kershner, Jean-Jacques Beineix and George Miller. Visconti is represented with the elegant "Death in Venice" (1971), which will show Wednesday and. Thursday at the Plaza on a double bill with Ken Russell's "The Devils" (1971). Truffaut's most stunning film, "Day for Night" (1973), will show at the Plaza Sunday, Monday and Tuesday on a double bill with Richard Rush's high-voltage "The Stunt Man" (1980).

Kazan is represented with his multiple Oscar winner, "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951), showing today and Saturday at the Plaza on a program with Bernardo Bertolucci's "Last Tango in Paris" (1972). 1 1 'jmf' i v. 5. if It- J- 0 Mi Nil) Coppola's "The Outsiders," a hit earlier this year, will show Wednesday and Thursday at the Rhodes, along with Nicholas Ray's "Rebel Without a Cause" (1955). Allen's latest comedy, "Zelig," is setting house records at the Tara.

Friedkin's most popular film, "The Exorcist" (1973), is showing for a week at 12 Oaks. 4 7i Sits 8 I They come to New York by the thousands every year, all of them tall, slim, lovely, determined, hard-working, naive, vulnerable, crushable. They want to be models. Many of them have seen a picture of someone like Athens, native Kim Basinger on a magazine cover, smiling and having a great time in some exotic place and making tons of money. "All those girls, it pains my heart to imagine how many of them are going to wind up real unhappy," says Miss Basinger, who somehow wound up happy despite being the most crushable of all.

Miss Basinger is a one-time model who escaped to Hollywood, as if leaving a frying pan. After being singed in thai particular fire for several years, she wound up a movie star. She appears opposite Sean Connery in "Never Say Never Again," which opens today in Atlanta, and with Burt Reynolds in "The Man Who Loved Women," which will open at Christmas. Stills of Miss Basinger from her model-turned-starlet days show a standard issue long-haired, high-cheekboned tigress. Today her blond hair is cut short; her makeup natural.

In a warm; lively and light Southern accent, she tells her story, a tale of pain outlasted and optimism rewarded: "When I first went to New York, I could only see two things. One, I had to get out of Athens, Ga. Two, I had to get some money. I didn't know that modeling was the pits. "I was 16 when I said to my daddy, 'Can you lend me and I was gone.

My family was a very nice bunch of folks, and they'd kept me sheltered. It wasn't until I got on the streets of New York that I started growing up, when I realized what a hurtable business modeling is hurtable." Miss Basinger's introduction to New York was winning the Miss Breck beauty contest. She paid her father back within three days. "But it doesn't always happen that way." she says. "You see so, many girls who aren't successful and are afraid to go back home and admit it out of foolish pride." Soon Miss Basinger was the hottest face at the hottest agency, Eileen Ford.

Even at her peak, though, "I learned what it means to be rejected over and over again for no good reason that I could see. The only thing that kept me going was the goals I had in my head from my childhood." In the early '70s, Miss Basinger was on every magazine cover that mattered. "Thousands of other girls were on covers, too," she points out. "You get tired of seeing yourself on the covers, you sure do, and just when you think that at least your parents are thrilled, they tell you, 'Oh, I didn't notice, Miss Basinger, 30, the hurts for 10 years because she had a goal: being in the movies. "Eventually I rebelled against modeling.

I never could find a reason to like it. I was terrible at it, 3 -A I 4, if Francis Ford Coppola Directed 'The Alexander Bergman's most recent creation and his most lighthearted venture in many years, is currently at the Screening Room. Oshima's surprise box-office success, "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" continues at the Garden Hills and Galleria. Kershner, of "Empire Strikes Back" fame, is represented with the newly opened "Never Say Never Again," in which Sean Connery returns as superspy James Bond.

Beineix, who created a sensation with "Diva," shows a new side with his second picture, "The Moon in the Gutter," new at Ansley Cinema. Both new movies are reviewed in today's Preview section. Aside from "Moon in the Gutter" and "Never Say Never Again," new pictures in town include "Romantic Comedy," and "The Final Option," (both reviewed today) "Piranha II" and "Deathstalker," both unavailable for advance review. Scott Cain lllitli a- See BASINGER 5P KIM BASINQER: With costar Sean Connery in 'Never Say Never Connery's 007 rates a 10, but 'Never' is middling CONCERTSCLUBS Brenda Boozer loves being pregnant, but hates that it means being cut out of the role of Hansel in the Metropolitan Opera's Christmas production of "Hansel and Gretel." Ms. Boozer is still singing, however, and the Atlanta-born mezzo-soprano will give a recital at 8:15 tonight in the Glenn Memorial auditorium at Emory University.

(329-6666, free). She will perform works by Handel, Bizet, Mahler and de Falla. When it comes to top pickin' for the weekend, how can you overlook Georgia's Best Bluegrass Festival? Bluegrass promoter Dillard Rogers' pride, and joy, the two-day event, with 50 or more bands on the schedule, gets underway at 7 tonight and starts again at noon Saturday, continuing until all hours. The place is the Exhibit Building of the North Georgia Fairgrounds on Callaway Road in Marietta. ($5 adults, free for children under 12, 948-6052 or 427-4417).

On Saturday night you can catch the Isley Brothers at the Fox Theatre (8 p.m., $14.75, (15.75 436-2500), or Kansas at Six Flags Over Georgia (8 p.m., $12.95, includes park admission). Sunday night is a busy music night: Millie Jackson, B.B. King and Bobby Blue Bland will be at the Fox Theatre at 7 p.m. ($13.50, $11.50, 436-2500). Also at 7 p.m.

Sunday Kenny Rogers, B.J. Thomas and The Righteous Brothers perform at the Omni Coliseum ($15.50, $13.50 577-9600). THEATER Four stages along the strip of Peachtree Street known as "Atlanta's little Broadway" are featuring strong productions. This weekend offers your last chance to see three of them. A REVIEW By Scott Cain Staff Writer Never Say Never Again: Directed by Irvin Kershner.

Marks the return after a 12-year absence of Sean Connery as James Bond, Agent 007 of the British Secret Service. Movie guide: rating, PG; sex, mild boudoir antics; violence, considerable mayhem depicted in a cartoonish manner; nudity, none; language, suggestive. Theaters: Tara, Cobb Center, Perimeter, National, Southlake Plaza, Roswell Mall, Northlake, Akers Mill, Newton, Conyers, Lawrenceville. embarrassing. "Never Say Never Again" is based on the same material as "Thunderball," the 1965 Bond caper starring Connery.

Similarities are minimal. Once again, SPECTRE holds the world to ransom over the theft of two nuclear weapons. Largo, a billionaire who spends much of his time on a yacht, has possession of the bombs. Bond makes a connection with SPECTRE through his near-fatal visit to a health spa in the English countryside. Otherwise, "Never Say Never Again" is all new.

Max Von Sydow is jovial as Blofeld, the SPECTRE tyrant, but he has a small role. Blofeld's fluffy white cat steals several scenes. As Largo, Klaus Maria Brandauer is infinitely superior to Adolpho Celi, who was somnambulistic in the same role in "Thunderball." Brandauer, best known for his feverish appearance in "Mephisto," has an electrifying screen presence. Barbara Carrera plays Fatima Blush, SPECTRE'S No. 12 killer, as a freaked-out assassin, the kind who Seems like old times, having Sean Connery as 007.

The good news is that he looks fabulous, moves with athletic grace and plays James Bond with the impudent wit that enlivened six earlier appearances as the world's favorite spy. 1 The bad news is that "Never Say Never Again" is a rambling affair that screeches to a halt at midpoint while expensive special effects are trotted out for no good reason. "Never Say Never Again" gets off to a breathtakingly fast, gag-laden start For the first 45 minutes or so, you think this may be the best Bond movie of all. Then, Bond tracks the villainous Largo to a charity ball in Monte Carlo, where Largo challenges 007 to a lethal video game. This sequence probably cost millions, but even the most demented video-game fanatic will have difficulty follow- Ing the action with interest.

To make matters worse, the Bond-Largo duel is followed by a scene that is arguably the most awkward of Sean Connery's career. He does a gawky tango with Largo's mistress, Domino. As they twirl around the floor, watched by the entirety of jet set society, he informs her that her brother has been killed, but he insists that she continue dancing. This scene might be interpreted as a satire of all secret messages ridiculously delivered by movie spies in public places, but it succeeds only in being 5P See BOND At Peachtree Playhouse, Just Us Theater presents final performances of the tragicomic "Ceremonies in Dark Old Men," the story of a family trying to escape ghetto poverty with get-rich-quick schemes. The acting by New York actor Maxwell Glanville as the father and Teri Lynn Brown as his feisty daughter is especially compelling Steenburgen, Moore well-matched in comedy that plays love for laughs 1 A REVIEW Maxwell Qlanvillo Stars in By Scott Cain Staff Writer 252-8960).

The partnership of Moore and Miss Steenburgen is traced over nine years of stage triumphs and failures. During the entirety of that time, Miss Steenburgen is in love with Moore, but she respects his marriage and becomes a close friend to his wife. Moore is not exactly mad about his wife, but he is comfortable. He loves Miss Steenburgen, but can never bring himself to say the words. Miss Steenburgen is quite a bit taller than Moore, but they make a splendid screen couple, every bit as well matched as William Powell and Myrna Loy or Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn or Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastro-ianni.

Miss Steenburgen looks a lot like Jennifer Jones in her prime, but is a much more accom- kr. xk The Theatrical Outfit continues its strong production of John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men." Don't miss the singing before the show 872-0665). The Alliance Theatre is putting the brakes on "A Streetcar Named Desire" ($12.50, $16 tonight; Saturday is sold out; 892-2414). Also, the Academy Theatre First Stage is dosing its successful run of "Three Brass Monkeys" 892-0880). Two productions in Marietta are worth mentioning.

The Alabama Shakespeare Festival '83 will present a professional production of "The Comedy of Errors" this weekend at Cobb Civic Center ($10 adults, $6 students; 427-2689 or 427-4666). Theatre in the Square has just opened the bittersweet musical "Piano Bar" ($6, 422-8369). Linda Sherbert There are more laugh-out-loud jokes in "Romantic Comedy" than in any other movie in ages. This one picture comes close to filling the laughter quotient for all of 1983. Dudley Moore and Mary Steenburgen give immensely ingratiating performances.

This is Moore's best vehicle since "Arthur" and it con firms Miss Steenburgen as an indispensable leading lady. Moore is cast as a famous Broadway playwright in need of a new partner. Miss Steenburgen, fresh from New England, applies for the job on the very day that Moore marries Janet Eilber. 4 3P 'ROMANTIC PARTNERS: Mary Steenburgen, Dudley Moore. See ROMANTIC I r'Z A is.