TV REVIEW : SCANDAL REVIVES OLD MOVIE

Prime-time television doesn’t get much more deliciously tacky than this: In the wake of the sex-for-secrets scandal at the U.S. embassy in Moscow, NBC has dusted off and retitled a two-year-old, otherwise forgettable TV movie about the Soviets training women to seduce and blackmail Americans.

The original title was “Secret Weapons.” The new title for tonight’s telecast at 9 on Channels 4, 36 and 39: “Secrets of the Red Bedroom.”

Admit it: That’s good. You’ve got to admire NBC’s chutzpah in trying to exploit the sleazy by being cheesy.

The surprising thing is that, in a funny way, the movie--its first half, anyway--really does take on an interesting luster amid the still unfolding story about Marine Corps guards at the embassy exchanging access to secret information for the sexual favors of Soviet women.

There are no Marines in “Secrets,” but the theme is eerily on the mark. The United States is vulnerable because, as a KGB officer played by Sally Kellerman disdainfully puts it, “Sex is America’s religion.”

“If Americans are so decadent, how can they be blackmailed?” asks a young Soviet woman (Linda Hamilton) training to use her body as a warm weapon in the Cold War.

“Because they are also full of guilt,” Kellerman responds.

Clearly, this isn’t meant to be taken too seriously; it’s a fairly standard TV movie that dangles the prospect of illicit sex without delivering. And guess whose side the fetching young spy winds up on?

Still, we now know it can’t be laughed off entirely. Perhaps the Marine Corps should consider adding this film to its required viewing list for recruits, along with the classics on social etiquette and VD.