Lackluster Stretch for Universal : Movies: The studio has gone through an 18-month dry spell. There is talk, officially denied, that studio chief Tom Pollock’s job is in jeopardy.

On the cocktail table in Tom Pollock’s airy Universal City office sits a battered book entitled “How to Make Good Movies.” It is a subject on which, not too long ago, the chairman of the MCA Motion Picture Group was considered an expert. Riding high on a mix of prestige and mass-appeal films such as “Field of Dreams,” “Born on the Fourth of July” and Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing,” the entertainment lawyer-turned-studio chief could seemingly do no wrong.

These days, Pollock and Universal are riding out an 18-month dry spell. Between December, 1990, when “Havana” failed miserably at the box office, and the success of the $79-million-grossing “Cape Fear” in November, 1991, last summer’s “Backdraft” was the studio’s only moderately successful film. This year’s hits--”Fried Green Tomatoes” and “Beethoven”--have been overshadowed by a string of commercial disappointments that include “Kuffs,” “The Babe” and “Leaving Normal.” Since Ron Howard’s “Far and Away” with superstar Tom Cruise failed to lift the studio out of the box-office doldrums this summer, the task now falls to Bob Zemeckis’ quirky black comedy “Death Becomes Her,” scheduled to be released by Universal July 31.

The film’s fortunes could affect more than the studio’s balance sheet for, nearly six years after Pollock assumed his post, there is speculation that he may be on his way out. Universal’s dry spell, observers say, is trying the patience--and the pocketbook--of Matsushita, the Japanese electronics giant that paid more than $6.6. billion for Universal’s parent company MCA in January 1991. The studio is third in market share and box office is up more than 20% over last year. But those $100-million-grossing pictures that make for sequels--and peace of mind--have been elusive.

Nevertheless, MCA President Sidney J. Sheinberg insists Pollock is in it for the long run.

“There’s not one scintilla of truth to reports that he’s out,” he says. “We haven’t had one conversation with one human being about changing the management of Universal Pictures. Hollywood’s ‘kick ‘em and beat ‘em’ approach to Tom reminds me of the way America has dealt with (Democratic presidential candidate Bill) Clinton.”

The scuttlebutt surrounding Pollock, as well as Universal production chief Casey Silver, illustrates the curiosity about--and fear of--the Japanese, whose corporate culture is so at odds with the way Hollywood is run. It’s a situation that highlights the cyclical nature of the movie business and the short shelf-life of studio chiefs who are at the mercy of it.

In the last five years, says Pollock, the challenges--and frustrations--have intensified. “The rising cost of making and marketing movies has far outstripped the rise in revenues--putting an incredible squeeze on the profit margins,” he observes. “Here, as in the rest of the nation, people are angry and afraid. There’s a feeling the bubble has burst.”

Still, he maintains, he’s not packing his bags--just revising his game plan. The studio has cut its production budget 25%. Though certain high-end projects will get off the ground, fewer middle-range and more low-budget features will be released. “Better to be consistent and avoid the big losses than to swing for home runs and strike out,” he notes. “Profitability, not market share, is what counts.”

Contrary to the conventional wisdom, he argues, Universal is enjoying a pretty good 1992. “Not every film of ours worked, of course, but all of our failures were small ones. The film division, with four films pulling in over $50 million, will make money this year.”

If the sleeper-hit “Fried Green Tomatoes” was a gold mine for the studio (which paid $4 million for domestic distribution rights to the $81-million-grossing film), making money on the oversized “Far and Away” is an uphill struggle. With Cruise’s reported $12-million salary and the added expense of shooting in 70 millimeter, the picture came in at between $60 million and $70 million, by industry estimates--$50 million, by Pollock’s.

Hollywood observers question the wisdom of spending so much on a romantic drama, a genre that--”Dances With Wolves” and “Ghost” notwithstanding--generally fails to draw the repeat business necessary for blockbuster status. Releasing a period film with accents against a heavy-duty action-adventure summer lineup, they add, didn’t help.

“I’d rather make three or four ($18-million) ‘Beethovens’ than one ‘Far and Away,’ ” says entertainment attorney David Colden, “It’s infinitely more profitable. If executives in Osaka are trying to find an excuse to begin inserting themselves, they have one now.”

Pollock denies he’ll lose money on the film, which has grossed close to $55 million so far. He predicts it will take in a total of $150 million in theaters worldwide, plus home video and pay TV sales. “It’s upsetting that people think of ‘Far and Away’ as a disaster,” he says with obvious annoyance. “No one knows what kind of deals we’ve cut. Imagine (Entertainment, the production company run by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer) had a financial risk that substantially reduced ours.”

Larry Gerbrandt, a senior analyst with Paul Kagan Associates, backs Pollock up. “ ‘Far and Away’ is far and away from being a bomb,” he declares. “It’s only disappointing when compared to a film like ‘Lethal Weapon 3.’ It’s probably a mistake to assess Universal through the summer telescope. This is a summer of sequels--”Batman Returns,” “Patriot Games,” “Alien 3”--which is the studio’s greatest weakness.”

Though Universal’s two “Back to the Future” sequels did very well, Pollock doubts that director Zemeckis and producer Steven Spielberg are interested in creating another. “Child’s Play” and “Problem Child,” he acknowledges, have run their course--and were never in the league of a “Die Hard” or “Indiana Jones” in the first place. “Beethoven,” which took in a surprising $52.3 million, is the only potential franchise on the horizon.

“It would be nice to have a movie big enough to make a humongous sequel,” Pollock says. “But one of the trade-offs of our so-called ‘doubles and triples’ theory is that it doesn’t make for many of those.”

Universal’s strength, according to Pollock, lies in its relationships: a roster primarily of directors--Ivan Reitman (“Twins”), Martin Scorsese (“Cape Fear”), John McTiernan (“Die Hard”)--and writers such as Richard Price, whose novel “Clockers” the studio is developing. Spielberg, an old crony of Sheinberg’s, is about to plunge into Michael Crichton’s “Jurassic Park.” Spike Lee, after completing “Malcolm X” for Warner Bros., is said to be returning to his former haunts.

Howard and Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment, responsible for hits such as “Parenthood” and “Kindergarten Cop” in addition to this summer’s “Housesitter” and “Far and Away”--serves as something of a safety net. “They’ve generated, on the average, 25% of Universal’s annual box office for the past two years,” says Jeffrey Logsdon, an analyst with Seidler Amdec. “Along with Spielberg’s Amblin, they’re the most important component of Universal’s financial picture.” Though Howard and Grazer will be leaving Imagine in November to start their own privately owned firm, Universal has signed them to a six-year production deal.

Universal’s summer lineup was reduced by one when the Los Angeles riots caused the studio to push back Walter Hill’s “Looters” (which has been renamed “Trespass”) to December or January. After the opening of “Death Becomes Her,” “Raising Cain”--Brian DePalma’s $11-million, post-”Bonfire of the Vanities” comeback attempt--will surface Aug. 7.

Among the fall releases are “Field of Dreams” director Phil Alden Robinson’s “Sneakers,” a Silicon Valley heist picture featuring Robert Redford, River Phoenix, Sidney Poitier and Dan Aykroyd; Martin Brest’s “Scent of a Woman,” starring Al Pacino; and George Miller’s “Lorenzo’s Oil” with Susan Sarandon and Nick Nolte.

Any talk of Japanese interference in the creative process, Pollock asserts, is totally off the mark.

“Whatever authority I had prior to the acquisition hasn’t diminished one iota,” he states. “(Matsushita) promised to stay out of it and they’ve honored their word.”

Though Universal hasn’t proven to be the cash cow Matsushita had hoped, one MCA insider doubts it’s of immediate concern. “Matsushita, with its Quasar and Panasonic divisions, is one of the Top 10 corporations in the world,” he notes, “larger than Time-Warner, Disney and Paramount put together. MCA is just a drop in the bucket to them--carried under ‘other” in their annual report.”

Gerbrandt, noting the long-term perspective adopted by the Japanese, suggests that Hollywood should do the same.

“An 18-month dry spell isn’t fatal,” he said. “But then, if Pollock doesn’t come up with a solid string of hits soon, the second-guessing will progress from a whisper to a shout.”