‘La Bamba’ Set for January Release; ‘Mr. Right,’ ‘Malone’ Out This Week

“La Bamba,” one of the surprise hits of the year, is scheduled to make its home video debut Jan. 28 on RCA/Columbia. The movie, a biography of rock ‘n’ roll star Ritchie Valens starring Lou Diamond Phillips as Valens and Esai Morales as his half-brother, has grossed more than $50 million.

At the same time, RCA/Columbia is releasing an oldie, “The Buddy Holly Story,” about another rock ‘n’ roll star who was killed in a plane crash with Valens. Gary Busey got a best-actor Oscar nomination for this performance in this 1978 film.

MCA’s “Dragnet,” starring Dan Akyroyd as Sgt. Joe Friday’s nephew and Tom Hanks as his hip partner, is due out Jan. 14. On that same day, MCA is releasing the 1954 movie version of “Dragnet,” starring Jack Webb as Friday.

Next week: “Who’s That Girl,” “Extreme Prejudice,” “Straight to Hell,” “Harry and the Hendersons,” “The Chipmunk Adventure” and “Happy New Year.” The week of Nov. 15: “Ishtar,” “Outrageous Fortune,” “The Whistle Blower” and “Deadline.”

NEW RELEASES: HBO’s “Making Mr. Right,” directed by Susan Seidelman, is a so-so feminist-oriented comedy that makes the snide point that a good man nowadays is so hard to find that a woman might as well get herself an android. A publicist (Ann Magnuson) is hired to alert the public about Ulysses, an android created to last for years in space. Though the android, who’s the spitting image of his creator, supposedly has no feelings, he falls for the publicist, who proves to be a corrupting influence. Since the real men in the movie are selfish, insensitive jerks, you can see why she’s drawn to the android. Some of it is rather funny, though many men may be too miffed at the movie’s point of view to appreciate the humor. John Malkovich plays both the android, who sports a dim-witted grin, and his nerdy creator, but seems more comfortable as a real man. The critics gave this one a mixed response.

HBO’s “Malone” is a Chuck Norris movie starring Burt Reynolds. A burned-out CIA agent (Reynolds) gets stranded in a small town, befriends some of the locals and gets mixed caught up in their war with a power-mad right-winger meglomaniac (Cliff Robertson). It’s a modern version of a standard Western plot--loner rides into town to help a pretty young lady and her father battle the town’s evil bigwig. At first this seems like it might be a cut above the usual genre fare, but the second half degenerates into a standard killathon, with Malone mowing down a mob of baddies. Neither critics nor audiences cared for it.

Vista’s “Three For the Road,” a romantic comedy starring Charlie Sheen, was trampled by critics, who griped that it’s dull, predictable and full of flat performances. It’s about a senator’s aide (Sheen) who is assigned to drive his boss’ delinquent daughter (Kerri Green) to a school for incorrigible girls. The aide’s roommate (Alan Ruck) comes along for the ride. On the trauma-filled trek, of course, love blooms between the aide and the brat, who turns out to be a nice girl who’s simply rebelling against her nasty dad. The chemistry between Sheen and Ruck is nonexistent.

OLD MOVIES: Rene Clement’s “Forbidden Games” (Nelson Entertainment, 1952, $29.95), is an unsettling look at the ravages of war through the eyes of children. Set in France in 1940, during the bombing by Germany, it chronicles the efforts of a newly orphaned 6-year-old girl (Brigitte Fossey) to grasp the concept of death. With the help of a playmate (Poujouly) in her adopted family, she conjures up creative cemetary games that help her get closer to the painful truth. The ending is a heart-breaker. You’ll marvel at Clement’s handling of the child stars, whose performances are amazingly natural and devoid of the usual kid-actor artificialities. Winner of the best foreign-language film Oscar, it is regarded by some critics as one of the best films ever made. Available both in French with English subtitles and dubbed.

The performances are the backbone of “Two Women” (1961, Nelson Entertainment, $29.95). Director Vittorio De Sica guides Sophia Loren through the best performance of her career. She never approached this brilliance again because she never had a role quite as challenging. Set in Italy during the final weeks of World War II, the story focuses on the survival struggles of a poor, resourceful widow (Sophia Loren) and her adolescent daughter (Elenora Brown), who endure, among other traumas, rape by Moroccan soldiers. The movie’s only real flaw is the ending, which is too abrupt, leaving crucial questions unanswered. Available both dubbed and in Italian with subtitles.

“The Ugly American” (1963, MCA, $59.95) is an expensive bad movie that somehow manages to be absorbing. Maybe it’s because it seems to be, as those old movies ads used to shriek--”torn from today’s headlines.” Marlon Brando plays a well-meaning American ambassador to a Southeastern Asian country, Sarkhan, who inadvertently helps the Communists with his blunders. You keep watching to see if he ever wriggles out of that big mess. The political preaching at the end is a bit much. Brando is never believable as the ambassador but that doesn’t ruin the movie.

“Robin and the 7 Hoods” (1964, Warner Video, $59.65) is a musical comedy spoof set in the heyday of Chicago’s gangster era, featuring Rat Pack members Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. and costarring Bing Crosby and Jill St. John. When Sinatra, Martin and Davis are cavorting together, it’s like they’re sharing an in-joke you’d like to be in on. Like “Guys and Dolls,” this light, breezy bit of fluff--about a hood who becomes a heroic Robin Hood--is loaded with lovable gangsters. Though never a knockout, it’s always entertaining. Near the end, Sinatra belts “My Kind of Town” as part of a showy production number. It’s the high point of the movie.

In “The Plainsman” (MCA, 1936, $29.95), the sprawling calvary-vs.-Indians battles are a backdrop for the romantic bickering between Wild Bill Hickcock (Gary Cooper) and Calamity Jane (Jean Arthur). Directed by Cecil B. DeMille, this is one of those big, expensive Westerns with, as the ads used to say, “a cast of thousands.” Since DeMille loved grandeur and crowd scenes, this one is teeming with both. Those who like action-packed Westerns will love the film. But there’s an unsettling aspect: As in many old Westerns, Indians are portrayed as dumb savages.

One of the most frightening films of the early-talkie era, “Frankenstein” (MCA, 1931, $29.95) is now more of a curiosity than an effective horror movie. Because this film, about Dr. Frankenstein creating a monster (Boris Karloff) who runs amok, has been imitated so much, it’s lost much of its scare potential. Now it seems like just another mad-scientist movie. But this version will be attractive to horror fans because it includes restored footage. In particular, horror-film buffs will relish a chilling sequence in which the monster accidently drowns a little girl who innocently regards him as a nice guy with a weird face. It’s a famous sequence that few, until now, have ever seen. Karloff gives what is still considered one of the best monster portrayals (Jeff Goldblum’s “Fly” of course, is tops). James Whale directed.

CHARTS (Compiled by Billboard magazine) TOP VIDEOCASSETTES, RENTALS 1--”Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home” (Paramount).

2--”Angel Heart” (IVE).

3--”Lady and the Tramp” (Disney).

4--”Mannequin” (Media).

5--”Raising Arizona” (CBS-Fox).

6--”Blind Date” (RCA/Columbia).

7--”Burglar” (Warner Video).

8--”An American Tail” (MCA).

9--”Hoosiers” (HBO).

10--”Crocodile Dundee” (Paramount).

TOP VIDEOCASSETTES, SALES 1--”Lady and the Tramp” (Disney).

2--”Star Trek IV: the Voyage Home” (Paramount).

3--”An American Tail” (MCA).

4--”Crocodile Dundee” (Paramount).

5--”The Godfather” (Paramount).

6--”Callanetics” (MCA).

7--”Jane Fonda’s Low Impact Aerobic Workout” (Paramount).

8--”Top Gun” (Paramount).

9--”Star Trek III: The Search For Spock” (Paramount).

10--”Sleeping Beauty” (Disney).