New Life for Box-Office Disappointments

THIS WEEK’S MOVIES

It wasn’t the worst film of 1989, but it may have been the worst idea.

Under different circumstances, it might have been a great idea for director Milos Forman (“Amadeus,” “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”) to adapt the 18th-Century novel “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” into a movie with big production values and able cast (Colin Firth, Meg Tilly, Annette Bening, Henry Thomas). Only problem: Another movie--”Dangerous Liaisons”--had come out the year before with just-as-big production values and an even more impressive cast (Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer).

As a result, Forman’s “Valmont” (Orion, $89.98, R) laid a resounding egg at the box office, grossing less than $1 million. At least its video release enables the curious to easily compare the two.

Two other notable and recent box-office disappointments, also by proven directors, have just arrived at the video store too: “Blaze” (Touchstone, $89.95, R) stars Paul Newman in the fact-based story of a Louisiana governor whose career was hurt by his affair with famous stripper Blaze Starr (Lolita Davidovich). The lusty comedy-drama was directed by Ron Shelton (“Bull Durham”) and had ticket sales of $19 million, surprisingly little for a Newman movie. “Everybody Wins” (Orion, $89.98, R) featured not only direction by Karel Reisz (“Saturday Night and Sunday Morning”) and a cast headed by Nick Nolte and Debra Winger, but also Arthur Miller’s first screenplay since “The Misfits.” The murder-investigation drama still lost big with critics and audiences.

On the other hand, “Hard to Kill” (Warner, $92.95, R) was a surprise hit earlier this year. The fast-moving cops-and-bad-guys shoot-’em-up with martial-arts star Steven Seagal grossed no less than $43 million. And we might see that animals can be as violent as martial-arts stars if “Cheetah” (Disney, $89.95, G) were a gritty documentary, but it’s a relatively gentle fictional film instead, all about two teen-agers who adopt a cheetah cub and the adventures that follow. Also for kids: the Heidi sequel “Courage Mountain” (RCA/Columbia, $89.95, PG).

VINTAGE VIDEO: “The Sun Shines Bright” (Republic, $19.98) is John Ford’s uneven 1953 remake of his “Judge Priest.” John Wayne stars in two 1955 adventure films available from Warner for $59.95 each, “Blood Alley” and “The Sea Chase,” though neither is among his best.

OTHER NEW VIDEOS

Have you ever seen the original 1950s television productions of “Marty” (with Rod Steiger and Nancy Marchand), “Requiem for a Heavyweight” (Jack Palance and Kim Hunter), “No Time for Sergeants” (Andy Griffith), “The Days of Wine and Roses” (Cliff Robertson and Piper Laurie) or “Bang the Drum Slowly” (Paul Newman)?

Each is available on video from Wood Knapp for only $14.95. All are highly recommended, but especially fascinating is the baseball comedy-drama “Bang the Drum Slowly,” whose clever, moving way of having Newman change from scene to scene, talking to the camera between each, gives it quite a different flavor from the also excellent film version.