‘LADY AND TRAMP’ FLIES PAST ‘TOP GUN’

“Lady and the Tramp” is the champ.

Disney Home Video has sold a record 2 million copies of its 1955 animated feature, debuting on home video Oct. 6, to retailers and distributors.

The previous record was held by Paramount’s “Top Gun,” which pre-booked 1.9 million orders. That movie, however, retailed for $26.95. The record for a $29.95 movie, as “Lady and the Tramp” is priced, was held by Paramount’s “Crocodile Dundee,” which initially had 1.8 million orders.

COMING MOVIES: Next week is one of biggest of the year for new releases: “Blind Date,” “Silent Night, Deadly Night 2,” “Heat,” “Red-Headed Stranger,” “Some Kind of Wonderful,” “Defense of the Realm,” “The Good Wife,” “Burglar” and “Wild Thing.”

Two classic foreign films also will be released: Rene Clement’s “Fordidden Games” (1952) and Ingmar Bergman’s “Through a Glass Darkly” (1961).

On Oct. 16, MGM/UA will release the Beatles 1968 animated musical, “Yellow Submarine,” at $29.95.

OLD MOVIES: MGM/UA’s “The Night of the Hunter” (1955, $24.95) is a superb American art film, co-starring Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters and Lillian Gish, that was way ahead of its time. It’s a dark, moody drama about a homicidal religious fanatic (Mitchum) preying upon two children who know the whereabouts of money buried by their late father. There’s an obvious message about evil masquerading as good, but this movie works because of the tension that director Charles Laughton generates as the preacher stalks his prey. Cultists love this one. Some can even quote many of the preacher’s platitudes. Unfortunately, Laughton never directed another movie. Former movie critic James Agee wrote the screenplay.

“100 Rifles” (Playhouse Video, 1969, $59.98) was notorious for the steamy love scenes between Jim Brown and Raquel Welch. In those days, interracial love scenes were a novelty. But that’s not the reason that this big-budget movie, about a war between Indians and Mexicans, is a favorite among Western fans. What they savor is the sprawling, action-packed battle scenes. Brown plays an American lawman who unites with a renegade Indian (Burt Reynolds) and a gorgeous revolutionary (Welch) to battle the villainous Mexican troops.

CHARTS

(compiled by Billboard magazine)

TOP VIDEOCASSETTES, RENTALS

1--”Crocodile Dundee” (Paramount)

2--”Black Widow” (CBS-Fox)

3--”The Color Purple” (Warner Video)

4--”The Bedroom Window” (Vestron)

5--”The Three Amigos” (HBO)

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

7--”The Golden Child” (Paramount)

8--”Over the Top” (Warner Video)

9--”Critical Condition” (Paramount)

10--”Hannah and Her Sisters” (HBO)

TOP VIDEOCASSETTES, SALES

1--”Crocodile Dundee” (Paramount)

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

3--”Callanetics” (MCA)

4--”Top Gun” (Paramount)

5--”Here’s Mickey!” (Disney)

6--”Sleeping Beauty” (Disney)

7--”Jane Fonda’s New Workout” (Lorimar)

8--”Kathy Smith’s Ultimate Video Workout” (JCI)

9--”The Doors: Live at the Hollywood Bowl” (MCA)

10--”Kathy Smith’s Body Basics” (JCI)