FOR STAPLETON, FILM IS A DIRECTOR’S BALLGAME

Befitting her long and distinguished acting career, Maureen Stapleton lists Mike Nichols, Woody Allen, Warren Beatty, Arthur Hiller and Stanley Kramer among the famous directors for whom she has worked. But she said her approach didn’t change when she went to work for first-time writer-director Steve Gomer on her latest film, “Sweet Lorraine.”

“It doesn’t matter whether it’s his first time or his 80th: The director is in charge, and you have to rely on him totally,” the Academy Award-winning actress (“Reds”) explained.

Gomer cast her as Lillian, the owner of a Catskill Mountains resort hotel, which--while filled for the summer with willing customers and a lively staff--has seen better days. She must decide whether to sell or renovate the Borscht Belt landmark, where the help includes her boyfriend Sam (Lee Richardson) and her granddaughter Molly (Trini Alvarado).

Smoking more than a few cigarettes in her Manhattan brownstone one morning, Stapleton confessed that when she first met Gomer two years ago, “he was so nice and sweet that I thought ‘Sweet Lorraine’ would never get off the ground! But a year later, he called and said, ‘I’m ready.’ It’s remarkable that he got it made, and for only $800,000.”

Although Stapleton was born in Troy, N.Y., she was not familiar with the Catskills, “except for one weekend in 1959, when I went to Grossinger’s with my two children--and had the best time,” she added.

One of the few actresses who has managed to sustain an illustrious career on stage, film and television into her 60s, Stapleton recalled an incident from the filming of “Airport” that stiffened her resolve to lean on film directors in dealing with the medium’s technology.

“It was directed by George Seaton--a sainted man. The film was in CinemaScope, and I was supposed to look around the airport. After the first take, he took me aside and said, ‘Maureen, you have to understand that this is widescreen, and when you come in and look from right to left, on the screen you look crazy. Pick a point, look, count two beats; pick a next point, count two beats.’

“It’s the director’s ballgame,” Stapleton summed up. “In theater, after rehearsals, you’re on your own. In film I rely totally on the director.”

When asked to compare the experience of working with young directors versus established film makers such as Allen (“Interiors”) and Nichols (“Heartbeat”), she replied, “I don’t find it much different at all,” although she acknowledged that Warren Beatty (“Reds”) asked for the largest number of takes. “Warren had boxed himself into this theory that the more takes, the better. Doing it wasn’t so bad, but I can’t understand how they can look at all of them without getting their brains fried.

“I adored Ron Howard (director of ‘Cocoon’),” she continued. “It doesn’t matter whether they’re 18 or 80 if they know what they’re doing. And Alan Rudolph was wonderful on ‘Made in Heaven.’ ”

She was referring to the latest romantic comedy from the director of “Choose Me,” starring Timothy Hutton, Kelly McGillis and Debra Winger. Scheduled for a fall release from Lorimar, “Made in Heaven” is a love story and fantasy in which Stapleton plays Hutton’s aunt.

More recently, she finished shooting the film version of “Nuts,” in which she plays Barbra Streisand’s mother. About this courtroom drama directed by Martin Ritt, Stapleton said, “I adore Barbra, and Richard Dreyfuss. But it was an awfully long time to be away in California. I’m good for two months away from my children and grandchildren, and then I go nutsy.

“At the time, it was no secret that I wanted to get home. About the third month I had done 8,000 crossword puzzles, and Barbra would come by the dressing room and say, ‘Think house .’ I was going to buy a house in Lenox (Mass.). I suggested cuts to her and she said, ‘You just want to get home.’ ”

It was around the same time that Stapleton played a bit part in the first feature by the son of one of her oldest friends, Walter Matthau: “I was very impressed,” she remarked about “Coming Down to Planet Earth,” Charles Matthau’s debut for Cannon. “When he was a kid, I changed his diapers.”

The actress’ closest ties seem to be to her two children and two grandchildren, and when asked whether she prefers working in film, theater or television, she responded candidly, “I’m not very artistic anymore: I prefer a job that pays a lot of money for a short period of time. And my choices aren’t that vast. I’d like to shoot a picture in my yard!”

Stapleton’s roles have ranged from her stage debut as Serafina in Tennessee Williams’ “Rose Tattoo” to “Plaza Suite” and “The Little Foxes” on Broadway, “Queen of the Stardust Ballroom” on TV and the hyperbolic con artist in “The Money Pit,” but she claimed that she doesn’t necessarily prefer playing outrageous characters to sweet ones such as Lillian.

Nor does she even watch her movies, she said: “I have no objectivity: I see my nose and my butt, and it’s too depressing.”

She is nevertheless ready to make more films, and revealed that a sequel to “Cocoon” has been mentioned. “But, who knows,” she added with the healthy skepticism of experience. “I don’t count on anything till it happens.”