MOVIES OF THE WEEK

Back in 1981, Dudley Moore tumbled, smirked and tippled his way into a lot of hearts as Arthur (Channel 13 Sunday at 6 p.m.), the filthy rich dipsomaniac whose tastes in women--Liza Minnelli as a brassy working girl--appalled his snobbish relations and acidulous butler (John Gielgud). A screwball comedy throwback, this movie by first time writer-director Steve Gordon (who died a year later) typified the mercenary, flaunt-it ‘80s too.

Director-star Clint Eastwood is obviously reminiscing about the old Warner Bros. service movies in Heartbreak Ridge (ABC Sunday at 8:30 p.m.), though his subject, the Grenada invasion, seems up-to-date and his screenwriter is a Vietnam vet. It’s a curious mixture of old-style homilies and new-style profanity, with Eastwood shining through cliches as the raspy voiced gold-hearted gunnery sergeant, whipping boys into men.

The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal (Channel 28 Sunday at 7:30 p.m.) spotlights the Hungarian puppeteer and science fiction master.

Phil Kaufman’s 1983 The Right Stuff (shown in two parts on Channel 13 Monday and Tuesday at 8 p.m.) was a great ‘80s movie that may have gotten too tangled up, publicly, in John Glenn’s presidential bid. Based on Tom Wolfe’s account of ace test pilot Chuck Yeager (Sam Shepard) and the Mercury Seven astronauts, it’s anything but stodgy, a swaggeringly hip epic, full of high adventure and juicy satire, with a cast--including Dennis Quaid, Barbara Hershey and Ed Harris as Glenn--that seems to be having the time of their lives.

Born in East L.A. (Channel 5 Monday at 8 p.m.) has writer-director-star Cheech Marin expanding his hit Bruce Springsteen record parody into a nightmarish and barbed slapstick satire--about an illegal-alien-by accident, trying to con his way back over the border.

Another good Latino-themed movie, Luis Valdez’ pulsating La Bamba (CBS Tuesday at 9 p.m.), is a bio with music by Los Lobos. Lou Diamond Phillips plays the tragic rock star Ritchie Valens who clashed with his tormented brother (Esai Morales).

Before 1971, there were notable movie car chases. But after The French Connection (Channel 5 Thursday at 8 p.m.), when you said “The Chase,” people knew you meant the furious, crash-defying duel between Pop-eye Doyle (Gene Hackman) on the streets and sniper Nicoli (Marcel Bozzuffi) on a hijacked elevated train. William Friedkin’s movie is based on the exploits of New York narcotics cops Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso--who appear in small roles while Hackman and Roy Scheider play characters modeled on them. It’s a hellacious thriller, pulsing with blood and speed, grit and cynicism, Poughkeepsie and foot-picking.

John Schlesinger’s The Falcon and the Snowman (Channel 13 Thursday at 8 p.m.) is a different kind of true-life thriller. It’s based on the fate of two young men who decide to pass on government secrets. One is idealistic, the other a destructive drug addict. As the idealist, Tim Hutton is a little remote, but Sean Penn burns up the screen as the over-the-edge druggie.

A third true-life re-creation, 1979’s The Onion Field (Channel 5 Friday at 8 p.m.), is based on Joseph Wambaugh’s study of the 1963 execution-slaying of a policeman. Directed by Harold Becker, it’s an unusually naturalistic look at police procedure and James Woods’ bravura work as a killer ignites the film.

Elsewhere, King (Channel 11 Friday at 8 p.m.) is a fine documentary, directed by Joseph Mankiewicz and Sidney Lumet, on the martyred civil rights leader Martin Luther King. But 1980’s Little Darlings (Channel 13 Friday at 8 p.m.) is a trashy little teen comedy in which summer camp rivals Tatum O’Neal and Kristy McNicol stage an absurd contest on losing their virginity. The young Matt Dillon is around to help out.

Dillon is seen to better advantage in The Outsiders (Channel 13 Saturday at 5 p.m.), Francis Coppola’s 1983 adaptation of S. E. Hinton’s novel about Tulsa juveniles. Joined by a youthful cast that became a seedbed for future stardom--C. Thomas Howell, Emilio Estevez, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe and Tom Cruise--Dillon plays a hood without a future in a teen-age tragedy that has some of the feverish romanticism of “Rebel Without a Cause.”

Also on Saturday: Breakheart Pass (Channel 13 at 8 p.m.) is a 1976 Charles Bronson train-set action special, directed by Tom Gries and based on an Alistair MacLean novel. Queen of the Stardust Ballroom (Channel 9 at 8 p.m.) is an unlikely love story, touchingly played by Maureen Stapleton and Charles Durning.

The ratings checks on movies in the TV log are provided by the Tribune TV Log listings service.