FIRST OFF . . .

President Ronald Reagan may be hearing a lot from his old friend Jimmy Stewart in the coming weeks. Stewart is urging the President not to veto legislation, approved by a House-Senate conference committee Tuesday night, creating a $250,000-a-year National Film Commission that can designate up to 25 films a year as “national treasures.” If any of those films are colorized or substantially edited, they would have to carry labels stating so. Moreover, only the original version of the film would be eligible to carry the film board’s “national treasure” seal of approval. The committee approved the legislation by voice vote over the objections of studios, broadcasters and video dealers. The vote was a victory for the Directors Guild of America, which has been searching for ways to restrict colorization of black-and-white movies, as well as substantial editing of films for TV and videocassettes.