NO HIDDEN AGENDA FOR PUTTNAM

He picks, characteristically, a small, low-budget, obscure, undiscovered ethnic restaurant where the food is marvelous but where he does not have to gaze upon or be gazed upon by other moguls or by mogul-seekers. The restaurant does not have a wine list, tablecloths or valet parking, only food and quiet.

David Puttnam has broken more commandments of Hollywood executive decorum than anyone I can recall in the last quarter-century, and all of them were greatly overdue to be broken and discarded, starting with the Highly Visible Lunch.

He is being handsomely paid by the Coca-Cola folks to run their Columbia operation. “ Very handsomely,” he says with a faint smile, as if it were amusing but not crucial.

But the point, the extremely significant point, Puttnam says, “is that what I earn will be exactly the same whether I deliver five more ‘Ghostbusters’ (which is to say, huge money-spinners) or fall flat on my face. In other words, I am allowed to fail.” No penalties, but no bonuses tied to grosses. He does not expect to fail.

What is also significant is that he has a three-year contract, with a provision that allows Coca-Cola one six-month extension of his services, if they want it. “If they don’t want it, that will say something very loudly.”

If the Coca-Cola brass does ask for the extension, “I will walk out of here on March 31, 1990.” That is the date he has circled in red on his mental calendar; he insists there will be no re-enlistment.

“Some friends have said that I start out as what you Americans call a lame duck. But quite obviously that’s not the way I see it at all.”

In Puttnam’s view, being upfront about his salary and his term lets him make deals with no hidden agendas, no exchange of golden back-scratchers, no hedging of bets, no creating of a getaway fund. There is no motive for him to do anything but negotiate toughly to make the kind of movies he wants to make at prices he thinks will assure a profit (not that anything is assured in the movie business).

Because of clottings in the Columbia production line before he arrived, Puttnam’s first order of business has been to pick up some projects, in addition to launching the studio’s own. As it is, the next Columbia project in release will be Elaine May’s delayed comedy “Ishtar,” with Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty, now due in May after having been set for release last Christmas by the previous administration.

Meantime, Puttnam has picked up “Housekeeping,” a new film, shooting in Canada, by Bill Forsyth of “Comfort and Joy” and other Scots delights. He has also acquired John Boorman’s “Hope and Glory,” based on his experience of World War II and reminiscent in feeling, Puttnam says, of Federico Fellini’s “Amarcord.”

He is also acquiring “Stars and Bars,” by Pat O’Connor, who did the excellent drama of Northern Ireland, “Cal,” and “Things Change,” written and directed by playwright David Mamet. Another pickup, “La Bamba,” from Luis Valdez and Taylor Hackford (as producer) looked very good in a test preview. Ridley Scott is doing “Someone to Watch Over Me” for the studio. Due out in midyear is another legacy, the Steve Martin updating of “Cyrano de Bergerac,” titled “Roxanne,” with Daryl Hannah.

Among the things the slate to date is not is heavily youth-oriented. One of Puttnam’s aims is to woo back the over-40 audience that he feels Hollywood has neglected but that is the fastest-growing segment of the population.

His slate also has a Continental flavor, not surprising given Puttnam’s producing experience in Britain, but reflecting also some rude shocks he has had about the cost of domestic talent.

He set a world-class European director for a project for $300,000 which, as Puttnam remarks, is itself not cream cheese. Talking with an agent about an American director whose price is more than triple that, Puttnam remarked on the discrepancy. “You can’t compare United States with Hungarian real estate values,” the agent said coolly, and the steam still rises from Puttnam as he remembers it.

“Something else I’ve never heard before now,” Puttnam says. “When I lift my eyebrows about the asking prices, I’m told, very cynically indeed, ‘It’s the American way.’ The American way , to price yourself out of the game?” He shakes his head.

Hollywood, with its history of ruthless competition and built-in paranoia, has historically been more concerned with survival than succession. The moguls were not much good at grooming heirs-apparent. Here, too, Puttnam hopes to be able to change the mold, building a small, tight creative team that will carry on the struggle when he has fulfilled his contract and moved on.

Before taking the Columbia job he had a long-term contract with Warner Bros., which the studio let him set aside. It has 20 months to go, and by present plan Puttnam would produce one and possibly two projects for Warners after he leaves Columbia.

“And that,” Puttnam says, “will be that. Enough movie-making.” He has a professorship at Bristol University and would like to think about more teaching and perhaps some television (as a host not a producer). “I’ll have been in the trenches long enough.”

In the meantime, Puttnam stars in a suspenseful drama, closely watched in Hollywood, testing whether he or any latter-day studio chieftain can break the cycle of inflated salaries, timid undertakings and ill-wrapped creative packages.