Daily News from New York, New York • 470

FRIDAY MOVIES 'Drummer Girl': the book is better By KATHLEEN CARROLL novel will be able to follow the action at first Still, the movie contains some gripping scenes, including a tension riddled stakeout by the German speaking Israelis in a village square. Klaus Kinski is chillingly effective as Kurtz, the devious expert in psychological warfare. y2 THE LITTLE DRUMMER GIRL. With Diane Keaton, Klaus Kinski. Directed by George Roy Hill.

At Cinema 2 and 3, and Warner Twin. Running time: 2 hours, tl minutes. Rated R. -MSSlfi- THE CASTING of Diane Keaton as Charlie seems to have been a mistake In the CHARLIE. WHO'S very much the swinging bachelor girl, has happily agreed to meet a certain tall, dark and handsome mystery man in Athens for what she hopes will be a romantic tour of Greece.

So you can imagine her astonishment when the elusive Joseph delivers her instead to a villa where a sharp-witted Israeli intelligence officer proceeds to grill her about her past. Charlie, as actresses often do. blurts out a wonderfully dramatic life story albeit phony about how her father died in prison. The Israelis could not be more pleased. "She's everything we've wanted bright, creative, underused, romantic," says Kurtz, her merciless interrogator.

"And a liar," adds a member of his crackerjack unit, hitting upon the very character trait that should make this born performer an ideal double-agent. As the hot-blooded heroine of "The Little Drummer Girl" director George Roy Hill's vigorous adaptation of John Le Carre's suspense novel Charlie is soon strutting about Europe and the Middle East, dressed for her duties as an undercover agent in attention-grabbing, Norma Kamali-like outfits. As the Israelis direct her in the most demanding novel. Charlie is a British actress in her 20s who vaguely shares Vanessa Redgrave's pro-Palestinian sentiments. Here, Keaton plays an Amor ican actress in her mid-to-late 30s (her unflattering short-cropped hairdo betrays her age) who, despite her lack of a British accent, not to mention visible talent, has managed to land a job with an English repertory com pany.

The whole point of the movie is that she is an actress who can change personalities on command, someone who is used to being manipulated by a strong male figure or a director But Keaton, one of the least "actressy" of Hollywood stars, has such a definite, radiantly powerful screen person ality that you can be sure that not even a master spy could persuade her to do something against her conscience. Not that Charlie displays a politi cal conscience as Keaton plays her Embracing men with the same casual ness that she embraces causes, this sexually aggressive woman appears to be just a victim of a hopeless attraction for swarthy looking men. Diane Keaton as double-agent Charlie learning warfare from the Palestinians much more sex appeal than Joseph (a battle-scarred, disillusioned veteran of Israeli conflicts who is played with a brooding intensity by Yorgo Voyagis) that Charlie realizes what it means to be acting in a show in which people are actually killed. Hill uses amazingly short takes and his introduction to the characters is so abrupt that one suspects that only those who have read Le Carre's performance of her career, Charlie's stage becomes the murky world of international espionage. She manages to maintain her cool even inside a Palestinian training camp where she learns the art of making inexpensive but deadly bombs.

It's only when she succeeds in making the desired contact with Kha-lil, a leading Palestinian terrorist who, as played by Sami Frey, has 'Crimes of Passion': it's a sin the answers to these puzzlers, but the big question goes unanswered Just how does director Ken Russell get away with making such sleazy tripe'' CRIMES OF PASSION. With Kathleen Turner, Anthony Perkins. Directed by Ken Russell. At Loews Astor Plaza and UA Gemini Twin. Running time: hour, 42 minutes.

Rated R. NTHONY PERKINS, in the absurd role of the sexually tormented reverend, has DAY. she's an elegantly dressed fashion designer whose compulsive working phony preacher, a babbling lunatic who insists he only wants to save her soul but who clearly longs to know her in the Biblical sense. Will the "Reverend" Shayne (who, by the way, does unspeakable things to inflatable dolls just to keep in practice for his showdown with this devilish woman) be able to break down China Blue's rigid defenses and gain control over her soul or whatever it is he has in mind? Can Grady, the Mr. Nice Guy hero of this lurid sex-tease mess, save his marriage to a wife who's never "in the mood" for anything0 Or will he discover that his exciting new bed partner, Joanna, really does have a heart and was only waiting, as she says, for someone to love? "Crimes of Passion" may provide been unusually fond of playing murderous creeps ever since he made such an indelible impression as Nor-man Bates in Psycho," but why does Kathleen Turner feel compelled to cheapen herself by playing the preposterous role of Joanna? "Crimes of Passion" was obviously trimmed to avoid an rating Too bad the entire movie wasn't left on the cutting room floor Kathleen Carroll habits, not to mention frigid attitude towards men, have aroused the suspicions of her male boss.

At night, Joanna wobbles in three-inch heels along the neon-lit streets of downtown L.A., where her clients know her as China Blue, a sassy hooker whose heart is definitely not made of gold. China Blue is being hounded by a Kathleen Turner as China Blue 'Razor's Edge' doesn't cut it THE RAZOR'S EDGE With Bill Murray, Theresa Russell, Catherine Hicks. Directed by John Byrum. At the Ziegfeld. Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes.

Rated PC-U. MURRAY'S intentions in remaking "The Razor's Edge," based on Somerset Maugham's Catherine Hicks) and teases a group of blushing Tibetan maidens before trudging through the snowy wastes of the Himalayas where Darrell, after miraculously finding his way to a small hut. supposedly has a re-vitaliz ing, religious experience. Denholm Elliott delivers some amusing lines as Elliot Templeton, the dedicated social-climber Mur ray's brother, Brian Doyle-Murray, gives a convincingly gruff perform ance as the battle weary head of an ambulance corps. But even the stunning travelogue shots of northern India cannot disguise the basic fact that "The Razor's Edge" is nothing more than a senseless ego trip.

Kathleen Carroll script "is a comedy and should be played rapidly." Murray, as everyone knows, has endeared himself to audiences by cruising through his comedies dropping hip comments that are clearly his own invention. But while Darrell is admittedly a fun-loving character before his experiences in World War I encouraged him to wander the globe in search of spiritual wisdom, it is most disconcerting to have a young idealist of the late '20s drop lines like "You're not doing butler stuff, are you?" when confronted with one of those traditionally close-mouthed Hollywood butlers. It gets even sillier as Murray pretends to flop around in the pool like a seal talk seal," he urges Isabel, his prim fiancee, played by novel, may have been perfectly hon orable, but his one-note performance as Larry Darrell, Maugham's American dreamer of a hero, reduces the whole movie to a total farce. In fact, there are times when it resembles a "Saturday Night Live" spoof. Maugham actually wrote his own screen version of the novel along with a personal notation that the Catherine Hicks and Bill Murray: the whole movie is a total farce.