Astaire Movie Cassettes Become a Popular Sales Item; 'Crimes of the Heart' Ties the Bonds of Sisterhood

By DENNIS HUNT

July 3, 1987 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

The death of a beloved movie star often means big profits in video stores. Like last week, for instance, Fred Astaire died. So did Jackie Gleason.

But it was Astaire’s death that caused the great stir, especially at stores that cater to collectors and devoted fans--such as the three Videotheque stores in Westwood, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood.

“When a big star dies, there’s often a run on their videocassettes--mostly sales rather than rentals,” explained Meir Hed, who co-owns Videotheque. “Like when Fred Astaire died last week, we sold 70% of our Astaire cassettes the day he died. That’s an incredible response. The big Astaire movies for us are ‘Top Hat,’ ‘Dancing Lady’ and ‘Flying Down to Rio.’ ”

Why does this phenomenon persist? “It’s partly because, when a star dies, it’s sort of like a painter dying. Whatever the star has done becomes more valuable. So people buy their movies. It’s an homage--a celebration of their talent.”

Indirectly, TV news obituaries featuring clips from the dead star’s movies help fuel the flurry of video-store activity. “People see clips of films they haven’t seen in years on television and decide they want to see the whole film,” Hed explained.

The sales and rental activity for Astaire titles, Hed pointed out, was the biggest for any dead star in recent years: “That’s partly because he made the kind of fluffy, lightweight movies fans can watch over and over. Also, most of his films are on cassette and many have been on cassette for years so the prices are way down and very affordable.”

Which star’s death, after Astaire’s, generated the biggest sales-and-rental activity in recent years? Give up? It’s not Gleason’s death, by the way. The answer, according to Hed, is the death of Cary Grant.

NEW RELEASES: Lorimar’s “Crimes of the Heart,” directed by Bruce Beresford, is peopled with playwright-screenwriter Beth Henley’s favorite people--lovable eccentrics. Set in a small Mississippi town, it’s a few days in the life of the three thoroughly neurotic MaGrath sisters. It comes across like a spoof of one of those Tennessee Williams’ dramas teeming with neurotic Southern women. Diane Keaton, who does the best acting in the movie, plays a whiny spinster while Jessica Lange portrays a sassy singer who washed out in Hollywood. Both sisters rally around Babe (Sissy Spacek), who’s facing an attempted-murder rap for shooting her husband after he finds out about her black teen-aged lover.

Many critics raved about the performances, singling out Oscar nominees Spacek and Tess Harper, who plays a sniping busybody. Writer Henley doesn’t fully explore the dramatic potential of the situation. Instead, she plays up the dark comedic aspects and allows the characters’ eccentricities to run wild. The pace is very lazy, which many will find annoying. In this kind of movie, you enjoy the dazzling performances and the witty dialogue. If you’re in the market for a serious, intense drama, avoid this one.

Lightning Video’s “Every Time We Say Goodbye” didn’t get much attention in theaters because fans didn’t want to see comic actor Tom Hanks in a drama. Too bad--they missed an entertaining little love story and a creditable performance by Hanks. In 1942 Jerusalem, an American soldier who is a Gentile (Hanks) romances a Jewish woman (Cristina Marsillach) from a devoutly religious clan violently opposed to the affair. Of course, the lovers, also battling time (he’s about to ship out), resort to secret rendezvous. A perfect rental for those in the mood for a decent, against-all-odds love story.

There’s not much good to say about Paramount’s “The Men’s Club,” about seven buddies in the throes of assorted emotional crises. Peter Medak’s direction and Leonard Michaels’ script are the main reasons this drama seems bogus. Actors Roy Scheider, Harvey Keitel, Frank Langella and Treat Williams sink to the occasion.

In the movie, the pals go on a booze-and-sex binge which, of course, leads to all sorts of character revelations. Their night begins with a rowdy, destructive discussion in a shrink’s living room, then segues to a fancy bordello. The movie then slides into soft-core porn. Undoubtedly because of the extensive nudity in the second half, this movie, which didn’t play in theaters very long, is a popular rental. People certainly aren’t renting it to marvel at the performances.

Continental’s “Witchboard” is an “Exorcist” rip-off, about an evil spirit unleashed by an Ouija board. And, as usual, the spirit finds a pretty young woman (Tawny Kitaen) to terrorize. (Don’t those spirits ever invade scrawny, unsightly women?) Though it includes many false scares, the obligatory terror-in-the-shower scene and an implausible ending, there are plenty of genuinely frightening moments along the way. Director Kevin Tenney deftly sustains the eerie atmosphere.

COMING MOVIES: Media’s “Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors,” a box-office smash, is due Aug. 5, the same day as Paramount’s “Crocodile Dundee.”

Another John Hughes’ teen-oriented hit, Paramount’s “Some Kind of Wonderful” starring Eric Stoltz and Lea Thompson, is due Sept. 16. Hughes wrote and produced while Howard Deutch directed. On the same day Paramount is releasing the Burt Reynolds thriller “Heat.”

Aug. 12 will be Elizabeth McGovern day at video stores. She’s co-starring in two releases--Vestron’s thriller “The Bedroom Window,” with Steve Guttenberg, and Lightning Video’s “Native Son,” an adaptation of Richard Wright’s famed novel featuring the late Geraldine Page and Oprah Winfrey.

Next week: “The Golden Child,” “The Color Purple,” “That’s Life” and “Marlene.” The week of July 12: “Something Wild,” “Duet for One,” “Allan Quartermain and the Lost City of Gold” and “The Assault,” winner of this year’s best foreign language film Oscar.

OLD MOVIES: If Warner Video’s likable “ ‘Round Midnight” puts you in the mood for other movies about jazz musicians, here are two more--in addition to Embassy’s “A Man Called Adam” and Warner Video’s “Young Man With a Horn.”

Warner’s “Pete Kelly’s Blues” (1955, $59.95) offers star-director Jack Webb as a jazz cornetist in 1927 Kansas City battling a mobster (Edmond O’Brien). Janet Leigh plays the jazzman’s flapper girlfriend. The fun of the movie is watching Peggy Lee’s stunning performance as a drunken singer--which earned her an Oscar nomination--and various other stars--Lee Marvin, Jayne Mansfield, Martin Milner and Ella Fitzgerald--in minor roles. Webb’s stiff acting is a bring-down, but the tawdry drama, the music and the vivid atmosphere are some compensation.

In Key Video’s “Paris Blues” (1961, $19.95), Paul Newman plays a surly jazz trombone player who romances a pretty tourist (Joanne Woodward) on vacation in Paris while his musician pal (Sidney Poitier) has an affair with her girlfriend. The plot isn’t terribly exciting, but the music is, particularly the trombone player’s frenzied “musical battle” with Louis Armstrong. Though they don’t have meaty roles, it’s enjoyable watching this distinguished cast at work and listening to the robust Duke Ellington score. A treat for jazz fans.

CHARTS (Compiled by Billboard magazine) TOP VIDEOCASSETTES, RENTALS 1--”The Color of Money” (Touchstone).

2--”Children of a Lesser God” (Paramount).

3--”The Morning After” (Lorimar)

4--”The Mosquito Coast” (Warner Video).

5--”Heartbreak Ridge” (Warner Video).