MARVIN, HUSTON FILMS AVAILABLE IN CASSETTES

Two giants of the film industry, Lee Marvin and John Huston, died last week, but home video fans can continue to enjoy their many outstanding movies.

Marvin was great at playing shady, sinister heroes--the bad good guys. He started out excelling as a villain, shining in ‘50s movies such as “The Big Heat” and “The Wild One” before settling into hero roles in the mid ‘60s.

If you want to sample the best of Marvin, focus on the second half of the ‘60s. Many of those movies are available on home video.

“The Professionals” (RCA/Columbia, 1966, $69.95) is a truly great western. Marvin plays one of the gunmen hired to rescue a woman (Claudia Cardinale) from Mexican bandits. It’s almost identical to his role in the rousing World War II adventure, “The Dirty Dozen” (1967, MGM/UA, $24.95). Both movies helped define that rugged, stony, deep-voiced hero that Marvin played so often.

“Cat Ballou” (RCA/Columbia, 1965, $64.95) can’t be overlooked because Marvin’s performance won him the best-actor Oscar, which led to all those prime roles later in the decade. But this comedy western, starring Jane Fonda as the schoolteacher out to avenge her father’s death, is drastically overrated. Marvin does energize it with his portrayal of twin gunfighters--one typically steely and one a hopeless drunk. But the performance seems dated because, with alcoholism being approached much more seriously now, drunks aren’t really funny any more.

Marvin was also excellent in the World War II allegory “Hell in the Pacific” (1968), playing an American who’s stranded on an island with a Japanese soldier (Toshiro Mifune). Though somewhat pretentious and saddled with a shoddy ending, it’s basically an absorbing movie. This was on home video but it’s been discontinued. Possibly Marvin’s death will inspire CBS-Fox to put it back on the market.

Marvin’s other great ’60 role--and arguably the best performance of his career--was in “Point Blank” (1966), the surrealistic thriller that has belatedly been recognized as one of that decade’s finest films. Marvin is terrifying as Walker, the vengeful, rampaging mobster. Unfortunately, this isn’t yet available on home video.

The other side of the Marvin image--his villain roles--are exemplified in “The Big Heat” (RCA/Columbia, 1953, $59.95) and “The Killers” (MCA, 1964, $39.95). Marvin plays a sadistic killer in “The Big Heat,” a chilling cop-drama directed by Fritz Lang. “The Killers,” a surprisingly good melodrama, is famous for Ronald Reagan’s role as a vicious gangster, but Marvin, playing an icy hit man, gives the best performance in the movie.

“The Big Red One” (CBS-Fox, $69.95), a gut-wrenching World War II movie about a sergeant and his infantry squadron, was celebrated in 1980 as director Sam Fuller’s return to film making. But it will be long remembered as Marvin’s last quality film.

Other Marvin films on video that are worth a look: “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” (Paramount, 1962, $49.95), “Monte Walsh” (CBS-Fox, 1970, $59.95), “Prime Cut” (Key Video, 1972, $59.95).

HUSTON ON HOME VIDEO: Much of the current generation may know the films of director John Huston only through the heralded “Prizzi’s Honor” (1985), “Under the Volcano” (1984) and “Annie” (1982). But you might want to investigate his oldies to get a better notion of his talents.

These ‘80s films were far from his best. “Prizzi’s Honor” (Vestron, $79.95), the black comedy about the mob, is overly wry and generally overrated--mostly because of a crowd-pleasing performance by Jack Nicholson. Aside from a magnificent performance by Albert Finney as the drunken diplomat, “Under the Volcano” (MCA, $79.95), set in late ‘30s Mexico, is slow and muddled. “Annie” (RCA/Columbia, $29.95) is one of the most expensive--and dullest--musicals ever.

Huston’s most fertile period was the ‘40s and early ‘50s. Most of his best movies in those days were character studies embellished by interesting plots and usually starred Humphrey Bogart: “The Maltese Falcon” (CBS-Fox, 1941, $69.95), “Key Largo” (CBS-Fox, 1948, $29.95), “The Treasure of Sierra Madre” (Key Video, $19.95, 1948), “The African Queen” (CBS-Fox, 1951, $29.95) and “Beat the Devil” (RCA/Columbia, 1954, $59.95).

“The Maltese Falcon,” which helped define the hard-boiled detective genre for the ‘40s, may be Huston’s finest movie. The script, adapted by Huston from a Dashiell Hammett novel, is littered with great tough-guy talk. But it’s the cast of quirky characters--Sam Spade (Bogart), Bridget O’Shaunnessy (Mary Astor) et al--that make this one special. Remarkably, it was Huston’s directorial debut.

In “Prizzi’s Honor,” Huston was trying to recapture that wry tone he created so masterfully in “Beat the Devil”--a classic, low-key satire. After “Beat the Devil,” “Prizzi” pales.

Other Huston films worth a look: “Red Badge of Courage” (MGM/UA, 1951, $24.95), “Reflections in a Golden Eye” (Warner, 1967, $59.95) and “The Man Who Would Be King” (CBS-Fox, 1975, $59.95).

“The Unforgiven” (MGM/UA, 1960, $59.95) was just released. Starring Burt Lancaster and Audrey Hepburn and featuring glorious cinematography, it’s a provocative western about racial prejudice against Indians. Surrounded by Indian-haters, the adopted daughter (Hepburn) of a respected family is suspected of being an Indian. Though Hepburn is a bit too aristocratic for that role, the movie works anyway. This and “The Man Who Would be King” are Huston’s best action movies.

Two of his movies, “The Misfits” (CBS-Fox, 1961) and “Night of the Iguana” (MGM/UA, 1964, $59.95), are best known for the gossipy stories generated during shooting. “The Misfits,” just repriced at $19.95, is talky and excessively literate (script by Arthur Miller) but now has an added emotional charge since we know it was the last film of both Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable. “The Night of the Iguana,” about a drunken ex-minister, created more sparks off-screen than on. Great cast (Richard Burton, Deborah Kerr, Ava Gardner), boring movie.

The following Huston films are not yet on home video: “In This Our Life” (1942), “Across the Pacific” (1942), “Moulin Rouge” (1952), “Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison” (1957), “Freud” (1962) and “Fat City.”

NEW RELEASES: MCA’s “An American Tail,” which sells for $29.95, is easily the most expensive, sophisticated cat-’n’-mouse cartoon ever made. This full-length animated feature, which grossed nearly $46 million, is the tale of an adorable little Russian mouse who’s accidentally separated from his family on a boat to New York. He spends the rest of the movie searching for them while dodging assorted evils--mainly hungry cats--in the wilds of late 19th-Century New York City. The most endearing of the songs is “Somewhere Out There,” the best schmaltzy ballad in recent years.

Parents will find this one relatively painless, though some cat lovers may bristle at the portrayal of their favorite pets as lazy, mean scoundrels. Warning: Some children younger than 5 may find the more villainous cats--drooling, fang-toothed monsters--frightening; also, some youngsters may be unsettled by the movie because it touches upon their fear of loss of parents.

Vestron’s “Light of Day” is sort of a rock ‘n’ roll “Terms of Endearment”--with the sleazy Cleveland bar-band scene as a backdrop for a grim family soap opera. This movie had trouble finding an audience. Word circulated quickly among Michael J. Fox’s fans that it’s not one of his typical teen-oriented romps. Rock fans didn’t covet it either because it’s not really a rock ‘n’ roll movie. Adults, thinking it was for kids, stayed away too--though they’re the most suitable audience for it.

Written and directed by Paul Schrader, this slow, somber movie is about the rocky relationship of a brother (Fox) and his sister (Joan Jett) with each other and with their family, most notably their mother (Gena Rowlands). The brother, who’s low-key, and his tough, intense sister, who has a young son, are in a bar band. The problem is that she is dedicated to rock ‘n’ roll and the life-style while he’s dedicated to the family. The movie ambles along until an illness in the family nudges the melodrama into high gear. Jett, a riveting actress, got critical raves. With the exception of the title song, a Springsteen composition, the music is forgettable hard-rock.

CBS-Fox’s “Betty Blue” starts out as a light, sexy comedy about a stormy affair between a flaky young French woman named Betty Blue (Beatrice Dalle) and a struggling writer (Jean-Hugues Anglade). But it slowly turns into taut drama as the dark side of her character--violent and self-destructive--is revealed. You realize she’s doomed but you’re not quite sure how this appealing, unpredictable character will self-destruct or what will happen to her lover, who’s obsessed with her. The suspense is often agonizing. It’s like watching a kitten about to be trampled.

Critics lauded this movie, which was nominated for a best foreign-language film Oscar. It was written and directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix, who also directed “Diva.” Renters should flock to this one because of its high quality and its sex scenes--among the most explicit ever in a major movie. It’s in French with subtitles.

Lorimar’s “From the Hip” is a meandering Yuppie comedy/drama about an ambitious young lawyer, Stormy Weathers (Judd Nelson), who becomes a media star through devious, showboating courtroom tactics. But then he finds himself in over his head defending a killer, played by John Hurt--who steals the movie. The lively trial somewhat salvages what had been a ho-hum movie.

This wasn’t a big hit with either critics or audiences. One problem is that audiences apparently turn off to the obnoxious, unlikable Weathers. Nelson doesn’t give him much charm to counterbalance those negatives. Also, much of it isn’t believable. Even arm-chair attorneys, educated by the likes of “Perry Mason” and “L.A. Law,” know that Weathers could never get away with his outrageous antics in a real court.

CHARTS (Compiled by Billboard magazine) TOP VIDEOCASSETTES, RENTALS 1--”Crocodile Dundee” (Paramount).

2--”The Color Purple” (Warner Video).

3--”Black Widow” (CBS-Fox).

4--”The Golden Child” (Paramount).

5--”The Three Amigos” (HBO).

6--”A Nightmare on Elm Street 3” (Media).

7--”The Bedroom Window” (Vestron).

8--”Hannah and Her Sisters” (HBO).

9--”Critical Condition” (Paramount).

10--”Crimes of the Heart” (Lorimar).

TOP VIDEOCASSETTES, SALES 1--”Crocodile Dundee” (Paramount).

2--”Jane Fonda’s Low Impact Aerobic Workout” (Lorimar).

3--”Top Gun” (Paramount).

4--”Callanetics” (MCA).

5--”Here’s Mickey!” (Disney).

6--”Sleeping Beauty” (Disney).