The San Francisco Examiner from San Francisco, California • 50

E6 S.F. EXAMINER -Crtt Apr. 27, 1981 Marilyn Beck 1 1 rV; 4 I -1 1 sis i i i Nicholson as Huey Long HOLLYWOOD And for his next trick. Jack Nicholson is going to be taking on the challenge of Huey Long, in a big-screen portrayal of the late "Kingfish" of Louisiana politics, who became governor of that state in 1928, a U.S. senator in 1932, was assassinated in 1934 and left behind a powerful political machine that finally crumbled when many of its remaining leaders were indicted for fraud and other crimes in las.

Nicholson's company will produce the biopix. lis script will be written by Gore Vidal, ho's got to find research on the Democrat many accused of wanting to become dictator of America particularly fascinating now in light of all his talk about throwing his hat into the xilitical ring as a Democratic California candidate for the US. Senate. At the moment. Vkial's throw ing himself into "Kalki" conferences with Mick Jagger in London.

The film, based on Gore's book and featuring a screenplay he's written, is scheduled to start shooting in India in August with Jagger serving as both star and producer. Tops with fitted bodices and ruffle-rimmed armholes go with long plaid pants I insn iweeu who wi ocwwmi A I 'rustic chic' outfits by Ellis i 4. i 1 iiii Bette Midler is finally secure enough about "Hot Streak" for producers of the movie to schedule production of the picture again. This time for May 5. And they have added Rip Torn to the cast, as the husband Bette leaves for love of the handsome young Ken Wahl.

"Hot Streak" was supposed to have started shooting the beginning of April. But Bette grew increasingly nervous about the project that marks her first romantic role and serves as follow-up to "The Rose" that wasn't a box-office blockbuster, and her "Divine Madness" concert film that flopped. Producer Herb Jaffe decided to hold back shooting until Bette's fears were allayed, halted pre-production activities, brought the crew back from Lake Tahoe location. At the moment, Bette's back going through wardrobe fittings and "Hot Streak" is all set to roll. Again.

Meanwhile. insiders are wondering how serene "I lot Streak" shooting will be with Bette nervous as she is, and with the decision to team her ith Torn, who has the reputation of being an enfant terrible on and off the set. i J2 As we peeled into Hollywood's Chinese Theater for the premiere of the re-edited version of "Heaven's Gate," I wished Stew Bach luck. And Bach the United Artists production chieftain who several years ago gave director Michael Cimino the go-ahead to make the movie for a budget of $11 million said, "It's too late for luck. Unless the earthquake comes right now." Well, there was do earthquake Thursday night, and it's not going to take luck it's going to take a miracle for United Artists to recoup its investment on the epic on which Cimino has ended up spending over $40 million.

Cimino spent a large portion of the evening nervously pacing the lobby, waiting for reaction to the film. When it came, it was decidedly mixed. The most frequently heard comment "The photography is beautiful, the story garbled." Wide kimono sleeves in a knit top are paired with long bloomers in the Ellis collection Perry Ellis presented this doublet and bloomers outfit with a big-sleeved blouse at his New York show which attracted big names A half and half form-fitting knit pantsuit with a hood PeEW HDSs SO Tineif all tw JEW YORK When the British fashion pack Richard Burton, who underwent a cervical laminectomy last Wednesday for correction of a degeneration of the cervical spine, is expected to be released from Santa Monica's St. John's Hospital by the end of this week. However, it is expected to take him some three months to fully recover from the neck surgery.

So any thoughts about Burton's rushing back to tour ith Camelot" in which Richard Harris is subbing for him can be forgotten. I was discussing upcoming coverage of New York's previews of new collections, following U2 I the hectic European go-around, the name that' came up most often was that of Perry Ellis. Oscar, Bill. Geoffrey sure, they were anxious j9 Stanyan in New York of opinion is what makes fashion, interesting as well as horse racing. For those who might be anti-shoulder ruffle, Ellis has a number of jackets, coats, and sweaters with wide kimono sleeves.

And for those whose figures arent quite up to his tight-fitting semi-jodhpurs, he does a real switcheroo: Honest-to-goodness Oxford bags, floor touching and made of very nubby tweeds in gray and beiges, with white flecks. These have cardigan jackets to match, and coordinated turtle necks that look like the kind made in Ireland. Maybe they were, because some of the models wearing them ehcited a chorus of "Aw-w-ws" and "oohs" by parading the runway with dogs in tow. Irish setters, of course, Ellis' standing in the fashion communities was reflected by the fact that not only was the foreign press on hand in full force, but fellow New York designers also attended his opening. Among these was Carol Horn, a wiry woman whose hair, at the moment, is a bright camellia pink.

Horn had already staged her show, which dramatized as much fashion independence as her coiffure: She puts dainty, ultra ferriinine blouses with long corduroy skirts, for instance, and a Victorian top with culottes made of tweedy wool. And like some other designers, including Perry Ellis and Stephen Burrows, she believes that no-color hosiery is boring. Striped, kelly green, red, you name it the legs won't just stand there in the fashion season to come, if they have anything to do with it So ho says Paris is the only place where fashion designers are adventurous? TREND TIP SHEET Narrow belts with novelty buckles in metal a heart, a duck, a dog. Sashes instead of belts, color-cued to bright hosiery. Leather separates especially pants and ponchos painted for evening.

Andy Kaufman's "The Tony Clifton Story" is a dead Issue at Universal Studios. "W7e passed on the project because we didn't agree with the point of view of the script," Universal president Ned Tanen tells me. Kaufman, however, does not intend to let the matter lie. His representative reports that Universal executives Sean Daniel and Bruce Berman are championing Kaufman's cause and intend to present the "Clifton" story to Tanen again once Andy rewrites it. For those not up on Kaufman's off the-wall antics.

Clifton is merely the comic's alter ego, but many are beginning to feel he's lost sight of that fact And in his original dealings with Universal concerning the film project last year, he demanded and received assurance that there would be separate contracts and dressing rooms for Andy and Tony. If the movie got made. Meanwhile, with his 'Taxi" series wrapped for the season, Andy's taken off on a traveling tour. At the moment he's in New York, tearing up the town with Robin Williams, who's in Manhattan filming "The World According to Garp." to see what they had to offer, too. But they absolutely had to leave London on Easter Sunday, to make sure they'd not be jet-lagged for Perry's show.

Ellis' emergence as the hottest designer on 7th Avenue deserved as his popularity may be for the designer's originality and flair for the dramatic is one of those puzzlers that pop up every so often in the mysterious world of fashion. Sure, there's never a dull moment in his presentations. But the clothes always have seemed to be beamed primarily at the young and bouncy, with models to match. Yet, grown women who've professionally watched the fashions go by for many years, swoon over Perry Ellis. Maybe they don't often wear his clothes, but nonetheless, they swoon.

And there they were, the British contingent and their mature counterparts from all over America, sitting in the bleachers erected in the commodious Ellis showroom, starry eyed in expectation. And it seemed to me that their eyes lit up a little more this time, because maybe, just maybe, women over 25 and no longer a size six or eight, can wear some of the new things and yet be acting their age. This collection, while still free-wheeling and theatrically accessorized, still shown by hopping, skipping, vitamin-packed models, does have a number of designs that could liven up grown-up wardrobes. Substitute something a mite more conservative for the tarboush hats and flat-soled ankle boots, as fashion accents, and the basics could become much more than amusing, junior-grade clothes. Take one of Ellis' favorite silhouettes: Fitted bodice with a peplum flounce, long or short, at the waist; long, slim sleeves; and a ruffle encircling the armhole a la epaulet.

It appeared right at the show's outset, worn with long, double skirts in contrasting fabrics, cut in a full circle and put over pantaloons. It showed up again in outfits where cropped straight pants substituted for the skirts; in suits with wide divided skirts; and in a great group of sweaters. These were modelled with mini-skirts, but that was simply showcasing. More ruffles fluttered up top on the peasant dresses which are in gaudy colors, in contrast to the somber solids and plaids Ellis uses for daytime. These festive designs, worn in their entirety, could look more than a little costume-party-ish.

But one of the skirts, paired with a simpler top and sandals, could look just right for a gala evening, to me at any rate. And I don't care if Halston was quoted recently as saying that he "didn't like peasant clothes, except, of course, on peasants." Difference The management of Brenner's Park Hotel in Baden-Baden, Germany, say they're expecting President and Mrs. Reagan to attend the Sept. 23 opening of the 1 1th Olympic Congress in their city, and are blocking off an entire floor of the hotel for the presidential party. Just in case.

This v. ill be the first Olympiad Congress since the one in Varna, Bulgaria, in 1973. The first: at the Paris Sorbonne in 1894. SDNS HOME LONG-DISTANCE numir mi i a VP. -T EH 1 rnUHC DILI.

cotton "Tease," WORD Upsand SLEUTH Downs IALDLDNWYCFAWSI RRIDUORACELB KEFROMWARARLSRT 0 0 A UDLPILIWTB'KCENI MAEAOSAAAWFA s(eJl VI WSTHRAIWEATBUIR ELEVCIHLLTFERSO A 0 0 LHELICOKRHTLEHW Saturday's untitled clue: MEDIOCRE Find the luted word! Hi rhe diegrem. They run in all directions forward, backward, up. down and diagonally. Unlisted clue lunt: SMALL SERVICE ELEVATOR Crane Derrick Cable car Ferris wheel Ladder Elevator Surfboard Roller coaster Seesaw Stairway Escalator Airplane Balloon Forklift Helicopter C1981 Krg Features Syndicate. Inc 4-27 S.F.

Ballet's summer in the Opera House The San Francisco Ballet will present its first short summer season in the Opera House, Thursday through July 23-26. The first three performances will be at 8 p.m. The last will be a 2 p.m. matinee. The opening program, repeated July 25, marks the company choreography debut of S.F.

Ballet dancer Betsy Erickson. The world premiere of her "Bartok Quartet No. 5" joins revivals of Lew Christensen's "Con Amore" (1953), John McFall's Tealia" (1973) and George Balanchine's "Stars and Stripes." Program Two (Juy 24, 26) offers Michael Smuin's "Quattro a Verdi" (1978), Robert Gladstein's "Stravinsky Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra" (1978), Lew Christensen's Vivaldi Concerto rosso" (1981) and the ChristensenBalanchine collaboration, "Variations de Ballet" (1960). Two movies to open Two new movies are scheduled to open this week in San Francisco: "Investigation," a French mystery about a powerful small-town businessman suspected of murdering his wife, opens Wednesday at the Cento Cedar. The film, directed by Etienne Perier, stars Victor Lanoux, Jean Carmet and Valerie Mairesse.

"Friday the 13th, Part 2," the sequel to guess what horror film, opens Friday (the First) at the Royal, Plaza and Geneva Drive-In. Steve Miner produced and directed. The cast is headed by Adrienne King, Amy Steel and John Furey. I 4 our crew-neck T-shirt in spring summer brights! Red, white, navy, maize, coral, jade, lavender, light peach, seafoam, pink or aqua. Junior sizes, S-M-L.

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