A look inside Hollywood and the movies. : IN SEARCH OF FUNNY : If You Won’t Laugh, Neither Will We

Was the title lame or was it the movie?

From the way Paramount is handling the release of “Brain Donors,” originally titled “Lame Ducks,” one might think both.

Paramount won’t admit to “dumping” this comedy, but it certainly isn’t giving it the kind of launch it has for two other Zucker Bros. comedies--”The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad” and “The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear.” Paramount also has a deal with the Zuckers for “The Naked Gun 3: The Final Insult.”

“Brain Donors,” a title that, incidentally, has little to do with this Marx Bros./Three Stooges send-up as conceived by the Zuckers and screenwriter Pat Proft (get it? “Lame Ducks,” “Duck Soup”?), opened Friday on only 523 screens. “Brain Donors” sounded “catchier,” hence the name change, sources said.

Nevertheless, the movie wasn’t screened for critics and, from the looks of the ad campaign, has barely registered a blip as compared to other films now playing.

Perhaps modern audiences wouldn’t appreciate John Turturro as Groucho/Moe, Nancy Marchand as Margaret Dumont/haughty rich lady and George de la Pena as the the foil/pompous bad guy. A no-star lead and two no-star co-stars; the Brit, Mel Smith (a big name on the telly at home) and New York comic Bob Nelson apparently didn’t warrant star billing.

Funny thing is, Proft, who also is currently writing a sequel to the Fox hit “Hot Shots,” thinks “Brain Donors” is his best script yet. “If it were filmed in black-and-white, you would think it was made in the ‘30s. It’s very visual kind of humor and very, very silly,” he said.