MOVIES - Nov. 26, 1994

Holiday Cheers and Jeers: The five-day Thanksgiving holiday weekend is far from over, but Universal Pictures may have reason for indigestion. Its new comedy, “Junior,” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny DeVito and Emma Thompson, appears to have stumbled out of the starting gate. After two days of release (Wednesday and Thursday), the Ivan Reitman-directed film about a man who becomes pregnant is running in fourth place behind films that have been playing for weeks. In first place so far is Disney’s Tim Allen holiday comedy, “The Santa Clause,” which had two-day grosses approaching $7 million. In second place is Paramount’s “Star Trek: Generations,” followed by Warner Bros.’ “Interview With the Vampire.” Industry sources say that “Junior,” which is playing on fewer screens than the top three, still could climb higher as moviegoers finish off their leftovers and venture out for the long holiday. Still, they note, the film will likely not be a blockbuster as some had predicted, perhaps because Schwarzenegger is not playing his usual action-filled role. The total five-day weekend gross could beat out the biggest Thanksgiving holiday weekend take ever, 1992’s $134 million. Last year, movies brought in $106 million for the period.

CLASSICAL MUSIC

Vatican Recordings: Previously unknown solo recordings by famed Polish pianist Mieczyslaw Horszowski, who died in 1993 at the age of 100, have been released in a two-CD anthology by the label Pearl Gemm. The selections, including an hourlong 1940 recital from the Vatican, coupled with live American recitals from 1957-1979, represent some of the virtuoso’s earliest known recorded performances. The recordings, miraculously saved from a Vatican trash heap, were discovered after Horszowski’s death, when his wife, Bice, 61, uncovered a diary dating back to 1940 and detailing the pianist’s Vatican recital for Pope Pius XII. The diary also revealed that Horszowski had made recordings for Vatican Radio. The Vatican later acknowledged that it had the recording, and that the tape had been saved from a trash heap a year earlier when a visiting musician happened to notice it and pleaded that it be saved.

TV & VIDEO

British Humor: Fourteen episodes of the acclaimed 1970s British series “Upstairs, Downstairs,” including two installments never before shown on U.S. television, will be released on A&E; Home Video on Jan. 25. The series, starring Emmy winner Jean Marsh, chronicled the lives and times of the Bellamy household at 165 Eaton Place. The 14 episodes will be contained on seven videocassettes, to be sold both individually ($24.95 each) and in a collector’s boxed set ($149.95).

No More Mudslinging, Please: Michael and Arianna Huffington will give their first national TV interview since Huffington lost his bid for a California U.S. Senate seat, on Monday’s “Larry King Live” on CNN. The Huffingtons will take viewer calls and announce their plans for the future, according to CNN. Arianna Huffington will also discuss her new book: “The Fourth Instinct.”

KUDOS

Showing Commitment: Actor Tom Hanks, musician Elton John and Creative Artists Agency President Ron Meyer will be honored by the entertainment industry at Commitment to Life VIII, a benefit for AIDS Project Los Angeles on Jan. 19 at the Universal Amphitheatre. Tickets are on sale through Ticketmaster and the Amphitheatre box office. Lyricist Bernie Taupin, John’s longtime collaborator, will produce the event.

Rightful Tribute: “Picket Fences” creator David E. Kelley will be among the honorees at the ACLU’s annual Bill of Rights Dinner, taking place Dec. 8 at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel. The event will also include appearances by “Picket Fences” stars Kathy Baker and Tom Skerritt, as well as the introduction of a new lithograph about the work of the ACLU by Los Angeles artist Robbie Conal. Other honorees at the Bill of Rights Dinner, the ACLU’s primary annual fund-raiser, are U.S. Asst. Atty. Gen. for Civil Rights Deval Patrick and retired state senator Alan Sieroty.

More Honors: Singer Tony Bennett will be honored by the National Assn. of Recording Arts and Sciences as the MusiCares 1994 Person of the Year during a Feb. 27 tribute dinner at the Universal Hilton Hotel. The dinner will be part of a weeklong celebration culminating on March 1 with the 37th Annual Grammy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium. Past winners of the MusiCares award, which honor philanthropic endeavors within the music industry, are David Crosby, Bonnie Raitt, Natalie Cole and Gloria Estefan. . . . Music producer Quincy Jones will receive the 1994 Golden Score Award from the American Society of Music Arrangers & Composers on Friday during a tribute dinner at the Universal Hilton. . . . News executive Rupert Murdoch and TV producers Norman Lear and Aaron Spelling will be honored by the National Assn. of Television Program Executives during the group’s annual conference, Jan. 24-26 in Las Vegas. Spelling will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, Lear the Educational Foundation Award and Murdoch the Chairman’s Award.