The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • 34

CALENDAR San Diego County Television Listings CosAtiflclcsWimce Wednesday, December 24, 1986 Part VI HOWARD ROSENBERG YULE NEVER BELIEVE THESE FANTASIES foundation could make effective use of the money, he said. Simply spending it immediately would buy little more than two 49-cent meals, on average, or a single night's lodging for America's estimated 3 million homeless, he added. While acknowledging that the coalition is a legitimate organization that USA for Africa has sought out for advice in fund distribution in the past, Rogol questioned Hayes' motives in making his public plea two days before Christmas. "There's an old Associated Press notion that if you want to get a story out, you harpoon a whale," Rogol said. "So I guess we're the whale." In a letter he sent Tuesday to Rogol, Hayes praised the foundation created by Ken Kragen, Harry Belafonte, Quincy Jones and other celebrities two years ago in the wake of the Ethiopian famine.

He cited its work in raising money and awareness over both African and American hunger as "impressive." But Hayes was severely critical of the foundation's "elaborate and costly mechanisms to distribute the modest $15 million raised by Hands Across America. "Mechanisms are in place to get those funds to the people in greatest need," Hayes concluded in his letter, which was sent out simultaneously to news organizations across the country. "Donors to Hands Across America have an expectation and a right to have their funds provide relief now. As Please see USA, Page 12 GROUP ASKS 'HANDS' TO SPEND FUNDS By DENNIS McDOUGAL, Times Staff Writer A national coalition of homeless and hunger agencies demanded Tuesday that $15 million Hands Across America raised for the poor last spring be spent immediately. "We have no particular interest in getting the money released to us," said Robert Hayes, counsel for the National Coalition for the Homeless, a nonprofit network representing the interests of more than 4,000 shelters, soup kitchens and food banks.

"We just want the money released to where it can do some good immediately. It's just not a difficult process, contrary to what the Hands Across America people seem to think." Martin Rogol, executive director of USA for Africa, which sponsored Hands Across America, told The Times that most of the $15 million would be distributed over the next two to three months. About $600,000 in grants to relief agencies was announced last month. Rogol said that immediate disbursement of the remaining funds would not be responsible or particularly helpful. By parceling the money out to worthy projects, the Warm and festive.

Scrooge, Tiny Tim and Tommy Tune open a delicatessen. And guess who keeps beefing about overhead? "Make My Having, difficulty grasping the season's spirit, Clint Eastwood gets trigger-happy when he doesn't get the new missile launcher he wanted for Christmas. Tm Dreaming of a Vanna White You'll be tapping your toes and singing along when the electrifying "Wheel of Fortune" star flips word cards as accompaniment to your favorite Christmas carols. "Perry and Ozzy Home for the The magical pairing of everyone's favorite Perry Como and rock madman Ozzy Osbourne in a program of holiday music that will move you to tears. Highlights: Perry singing "Jingle Bells." Ozzy singing "Paranoid." Special guest stars: the Dead Kennedys and Jimmy Swaggart.

"Hold It, Just zany fun. It's Christmas Eve and Santa is about to climb into his sleigh for his annual toy delivery when Mrs. Claus notices that he has ring around the collar. Wouldn't you know that she brings the big guy back inside and makes him remove Please see FANTASIES, Page 12 the Mrs. make a shrewd career move.

They lay off the elves and open a private detective agency, solving difficult cases while drinking martinis and exchanging sophisticated patter. "Marcus Eljby, M.D."t One of Santa's elves has graduated from medical school and has a nice practice in Dayton. But a Medicare scandal threatens his career. "How the Grinch Almost Stole The thirst for evil is unquenchable. Not satisfied with ripping off Christmas, the Grinch tries to steal Hanukkah, but is beaten to a pulp by bat-wielding members of the Jewish Defense League.

"Rudolf the Everyone's favorite reindeer gets involved with left-wingers plotting to radicalize the North Pole. You know how it is, youthful exuberance and all that. He'll grow out of it. "A Christmas Salami on JACK MATHEWS At, SK'P Loa Angelea Tlmw 'KONG LIVES' DIES AT 1 I ViJ ait- f'X Eddie Murphy searches for "The Golden Child," which still heads the top 10 box-office list of money makers for the past week. 1 'tf if Jzr What a wonderful time of year this is.

The only problem is that there aren't enough good holiday TV specials to celebrate the season. As usual, there's too much reliance on the tried, true and threadbare. Everyone in the business is afraid to take chances or try new ideas. Here are some they won't be able to resist, though. "Christmas A Yule political thriller.

The Iran arms scandal has soured Congress on sending more aid to Nicaragua's anti-Sandinista rebels. Disguised as Santas, members of the National Security Council break into toy stores at Christmas and ship the weapons to the contras. "Sandinista Another political thriller, as the Nicaraguan government hatches an insidious plot to infiltrate the contras by sending in Santas to hear their gift requests at Christmas. "Frosty, the Snow, A slightly different twist to one of the classics. Don't let the button eyes, corncob pipe and vacant expression, fool you.

This time Frosty turns out to be dealing cocaine. Netted in one of Geraldo Rivera's live drug busts, he melts before he can be charged. "Mr. Mrs. Santa and every day of my life is different." BE A LEGEND salutation with a distracted, self-contained, "I'm doin' all right." He moved to his piano bench, and reflected on his career.

"What makes my approach special is that I do different things. I do jazz, blues, country music and so forth. I do them all, like a good utility man. I'm proud people say I'm a legend. But everything has its side effects.

The greater the pluses, the greater the minuses. "I never was a specialist. I've been more of a general practitioner. What I look for first in a song is the lyric. Oh, there are exceptions." He wheeled around to the piano and played a jumpy measure of "What'd I Say?" With his elbows tucked in, his whole body did a bounce.

He stopped and turned back. "There's nothin' I wrote about that song that I can talk about. There was something about that rhythm people couldn't keep still. But I'm like an actor. I need the lyrics.

Nobody ever expected me to do 'Some Enchanted It was 'Come on, But the song has meaning. And it doesn't have to be a love song. Like that song what is it 'She Got the Gold Mine, I Got the Yeah, that's good!" He burst into rocking laughter. Charles is smaller and somewhat Please see CHARLES, Page 8 BOX OFFICE to Cinemascore, a private exit poll service, viewers gave "King Kong Lives" an overall grade of D-plus. Even those who said they couldn't wait to see it rated it no better than aC.

Warner Bros, had a much better time with "Little Shop of Horrors," the Frank Oz musical comedy that it has been screening for more than a month. "Little Shop," riding a crest of rave reviews, got an overall A-minus rating from Cinemas-core respondents and finished its opening weekend in fourth place on the box-office chart, taking in $3.7 million in 866 theaters. The Eddie Murphy comedy-adventure "The Golden Child" again topped the list, but its business was down 32 from its opening week-Please see' Page 5 WRIGHT'S DAUGHTER APPROVES By JUDITH MICHAELSON, Times Staff Writer Julia Wright the elder of Richard Wright's two daughters-attended the premiere of "Native Son" in New York recently and found the treatment of her father's seminal 1940 novel "honest." Wright, 44, who is putting together a book of her late father's unpublished haiku poetry, lives in Paris. "I think you should know the frame of mind I traveled to New York with," she remarked in a telephone interview. "I was very apprehensive because a film had been made in the 1950s by a Frenchman named Pierre Chenal, who used to be rather well known for making whodunits." Although Richard Wright starred as Bigger Thomas in that movie, which had been made in Argentina, his daughter said "he didn't like it; he was not happy with that film at all.

And the story of that film was very bizarre because a lot of prints disappeared. "We saw that film for the first time last year," she added, "and it was a wonderful document of Richard Wright on live film. I didn't like it as a movie. I could see what my father meant In the old film, the trial is almost nonexis-Please see WRIGHT, Page 3 Has anybody seen a big gorilla roaming around loose? Hairy fella, runny nose, bad teeth, about 50 feet tall with a keen eye for the ladies? Answers to the name How did the De Laurentiis Entertainment Group do it? How did it manage to open "King Kong Lives," boss Dino's second Kong show, without anybody knowing it? What did they do, put a black jersey on him and slip him onto the field disguised as a Chicago Bears lineman? The way he played, he could have made the Raiders. "King Kong Lives" opened in 1,105 theaters across the country Friday, but Kong could have brought his wife and kid (now you know the trouble De Laurentiis went to in this episode) to most of those theaters and had room to spread out.

The movie grossed just $1.2 million over the weekend, placing 12th on the box-office chart and establishing itself as the season's first documented flop. Did DEG make a mistake in not screening the film for critics? The reviews that it got after the opening were generally bad, but who would have expected anything else? Critic bites primate is not news. By not having advance press screenings, DEG assured itself of two things: No bad reviews on opening day. And very little publicity. Editors aren't inclined to assign feature stories on movies their reporters cannot see, and even bad reviews run alone would have been accompanied by photos that would have at least tipped people to the ape's arrival.

Michelle Reese, head of DEG's MOVIE REVIEW A PRODIGA 'NATIVE SON' RETURNS By KEVIN THOMAS, Times Staff Writer Since it has taken 46 years for Richard Wright's landmark novel "Native Son" (opening Christmas Day at the Century Plaza, Hollywood Pacific, Baldwin Complex and Laemmle Colorado) to become a major motion picture, it's lamentable that it is an instance of making a molehill out of a mountain. Much of Wright's insight into the psychology of black rage has been shorn, the murder of a crucial character has been deleted, and the entire production has too much of a standard TV drama feel to it Despite numerous vibrant performances, it lacks the raw tragic power of the novel, which, if anything, is timelier than ever. "Native Son" is too important a work of literature to merit such a mundane fate. Its first third is by far its best, for Wright himself sets the stage so well that all director Jerrold Freedman and screenwriter Richard Wesley have to do is to go along with him. Nineteen-year-old Bigger Thomas (Victor Love) lives with his widowed mother (Oprah Winfrey) and younger brother and sister in a derelict, rat-infested room in a South Side slum in 1940 Veteran singer Ray Charles at 56: "As for how I keep fresh, well, RAY CHARLES PROUD TO marketing division, said there are no regrets at the studio over the decision to not pre-screen "King Kong Lives" to the press.

"We didn't think critics would like the movie," Reese said. "We felt they would find things about it that weren't to their liking, so we decided to open it based on the TV spots and trailers which we felt were terrific." So, maybe the king is finally dead. Or maybe adventure fans are getting all the gorilla they need from Sylvester Stallone. Anyway, their ability to resist this installmentdirected by the same John Guillerman who handled De Laurentiis' 1976 remake of the 1933 classic has probably sealed Kong's Hollywood fate forever. Those few fans who did show up for the opening weekend were not ready to recommend it.

According Victor Love as Bigger in Richard Wrighfs "Native Son." Chicago. We meet them on the day that Bigger is to start a new job. Consumed with an inarticulate rage at his plight as a poverty-stricken, oppressed black with little hope for the future, Bigger instead plans a store holdup with his pals. A last-minute hitch cancels the robbery. Ironically, Bigger would probably have been better off engaging in a petty crime than going to work as a chauffeur with the Daltons, a rich, white, liberal family, who live in a stone Victorian mansion.

In the ghetto Bigger has a surly swagger; in his new luxurious surroundings, the likes of which he's never seen outside the movies, he's all awed and humbled "Yes-Please see 'NATIVE; Page 3 You need only hear a note or two of one of his vocals to recognize Ray Charles. Like the late Louis Armstrong, he's an artist who so dominates his form that he displaces everyone around him. He's instant public domain, which is as good a reason as any for his being honored in Friday's telecast of the Kennedy Center Awards (others on the list are Hume Cron-yn, Jessica Tandy, Yehudi Menu-hin, Antony Tudor and Lucille Ball). It airs at 9 p.m. Friday on CBS.

Charles has roots in gospel; he's played jazz (alto sax as well as piano); he was one of the principals who moved into the American musical mainstream, and he pumps new life into whatever pop standards he decides to take under his wing. He's written a great deal, if By LAWRENCE CHRISTON, Times Staff Writer not most, of his own music. He's led his own band which on occasion has swelled to orchestral proportionfor a large portion of his career, and he's quietly experimented with ways to make it a glossy entertainment. What sets Charles apart, though, is his voice, which is deeply rooted in a down-home blues cast. It isn't quite gut-bucket it has too many escapes.

But it's muscular, a touch harsh and full of loamy sensual sweets and good-natured lifts. It's also laced with rough plaintiveness and rooted in sorrow. The classic blues voice. At his studio on Washington Boulevard recently, Charles stood at the controls of a synthesizer. It was late morning.

He hadn't stoked up his energies yet, answering a INSIDE CALENDAR STAGE: "Pasta, Dread and Mazel" at Back Alley reviewed by Robert Koehler. Page 2. NTV: Tonight on TV and cable. Page 1 1. Weekly Nielsen ratings.

Page 10. Songwriter Jimmy Webb, a boy wonder of the '60s, still seeks stardom as a solo singer. Page 2..