VOW OF SILENCE

The New York set of director James Toback’s “The Pick-Up Artist” is “officially closed”--no exceptions. Are Toback and his cast--Molly Ringwald, Dennis Hopper, Harvey Keitel and Robert Downey--really so high and mighty?

No, but Warren Beatty is.

The heavyweight hyphenate, whose Mulholland Productions is producing for Fox, directly dictated the gag order, according to studio production exec Larry Mark.

Does it have anything to do with Toback’s track record as a writer and director of three unsuccessful films--”Fingers” (1977), “Love and Money” (1982) and “Exposed” (1983)? Or those incessant “brat pack” questions aimed at Ringwald? Her reps didn’t return our calls, and no one else was emitting a peep.

A publicist for Downey even reneged on a proffered interview pegged to the actor’s current vehicle, “Back to School,” after “he was sat down and told not to talk.”

“Pick-Up Artist,” a film about romance, thugs and gambling debts, is pegged for release next summer.