A look inside Hollywood and the movies. : REWRITE CITY : A Real Cliffhanger: Will Stallone Get a Screenplay Credit?

Sylvester Stallone has the public persona of an actor who’s seriously concerned with perfecting his perpetually buffed physique. Few outside the movie business, though, know how hard the star works at rewriting other people’s screenplays.

While most of his “polishes” go unrecognized in final credits, his rewrite of “Cliffhanger” is distinctive--or so he and producers Carolco Pictures believe.

Carolco has asked the Writers Guild of America on behalf of Stallone for a co-screenwriting credit on their $60-million thriller, in which the actor plays a death-defying mountain climber who eliminates a band of gun-wielding thieves in the Colorado Rockies (the movie was actually filmed in the Italian Alps last summer). TriStar Pictures will release the movie May 28.

Several sources close to Stallone said he “easily” rewrote more than a third of Michael France’s shooting script--the minimum amount that would have to be rewritten for the WGA to agree to conduct an internal arbitration.

However, one Carolco source said the actor, who reportedly received $15 million for “Cliffhanger,” will not receive one extra penny for his rewrite job. His was the latest in a series of rewrites by four previous screenwriters including France, who now has sole screenwriting credit. Even “Cliffhanger” director Renny Harlin admitted to at least eight versions at a recent early press screening showing action sequences from the movie.

The question for critics and audiences is whether Stallone’s handiwork paid off. Two “Cliffhanger” sources praised Stallone’s involvement. One characterization of his writing talents was that he “really has an ear for action-oriented dialogue.” Another was that this role will revive his sagging screen career--a reference to the fact that his last starring role was in the critical and commercial dud “Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot”--a far cry from his Oscar-winning “Rocky” days.

But a very different assessment came from someone who saw a research screening of the entire movie two weeks ago: “Ten minutes into the movie and I knew it had been Stallonized . . . it had his trademark stupid dialogue. It’s too bad too, because it could have been great--the stunts and the photography are awesome.”