Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation’s press.

MOVIES

Revisiting Early Black Cinema: Cable’s Turner Classic Movies will show “A Separate Cinema,” a monthlong tribute to black independent films of the 1920s through ‘40s, on five successive Wednesday nights, starting July 1. TCM is billing the 29-film festival as “the most extensive and in-depth presentation in television history of early independent films made for African American audiences.” The event’s centerpiece will be the TV premiere of a newly restored version of Oscar Micheaux’s 1920 film, “The Symbol of the Unconquered,” on July 1 at 6 p.m. Other scheduled films include “King Solomon’s Mines” (1937), “Princess Tam Tam” (1935), “Zou Zou” (1934), “Miracle in Harlem” (1948), “The Jackie Robinson Story” (1950), “The Spirit of Youth” (1938) and the earliest known surviving black film, Micheaux’s “Within Our Gates” (also 1920).

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Sheen in Drug Rehab: Actor Charlie Sheen checked himself into a drug rehabilitation center in Malibu over the weekend to try to overcome what he called his “destructive appetites,” according to his publicist. Sheen, 32, star of the movies “Platoon” and “Wall Street,” had been discharged Friday from Los Robles Regional Medical Center, where he was being treated for a drug overdose. He then checked into an unspecified drug rehabilitation center, but walked out early Saturday morning and was later picked up by police, who took him to a local hospital for observation. Subsequently, Sheen decided to spend a month in rehab.

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Rights of ‘Brian’: The Monty Python comedy team has won back the rights to “Life of Brian,” one of Britain’s most successful movies, after a judge ruled that a Canadian company had violated the terms of the sale, which, among other things, restricted how the film could be edited. London’s High Court ruled that Canada’s Paragon Entertainment Corp., which bought the film in 1994, unfairly struck a deal allowing Britain’s Channel 4 television to show it in 1995 and 1996. Paragon bought the film rights for $8 million from ex-Beatle George Harrison’s Handmade Films, which financed the movie in 1978. Although the Python team had agreed to hand over the copyright of the screenplay to Handmade, the comedians retained the right to assess sales and make any necessary cuts to conform to local censorship rules. The London judge found that because those terms were broken, the rights should revert back to the Python team.

THEATER

Sinatra Musical in the Works: Stewart Lane, co-producer of “1776” and “Wait Until Dark” on Broadway, told the New York Post he wants to develop a musical based on the life and music of Frank Sinatra, who died May 14. Lane said he has asked Cy Coleman, who wrote the Sinatra tune “Witchcraft” and such Broadway hits as “Sweet Charity” and “The Life,” to help with the show, tentatively planned for next winter.

POP/ROCK

Internet Tribute: The Internet site https://www.Jazz CentralStation.com will broadcast a night of live music, commentary and personal recollections about jazz great Miles Davis tonight, on what would have been his 72nd birthday. The tribute, cybercast from New York’s Birdland Jazz Club, is scheduled to feature musicians including George Duke, Wynton Marsalis, George Coleman, Buster Williams, Gary Peacock and Jimmy Cobb. Musical sets are scheduled for both 4 and 7 p.m. Davis died in 1991 from pneumonia, respiratory failure and a stroke.

TV & RADIO

The Other Candidates: The major gubernatorial contenders--Republican Dan Lungren and Democrats Gray Davis, Jane Harman and Al Checchi--have become familiar through their TV ads and news coverage. Now KCET-TV Channel 28 has rounded up 10 of other 13 candidates for a forum on “Life & Times Tonight” today at 10:30 p.m. Kitty Felde hosts the show with Democrats Pia Jensen, Michael Palitz and Charles “Chuck” Pineda Jr.; Republicans James D. Crawford, Eduardo M. Rivera, Jeff Williams and Dennis Peron; Libertarian Steve W. Kubby; Green Party member Dan Hamburg; and Peace & Freedom party member Marsha Feinland.

QUICK TAKES

Singer James Taylor will launch his summer concert tour with “James Taylor Live,” a televised special from New York’s Beacon Theater, airing live on KCET-TV Channel 28 on May 30 at 6 p.m. The program will repeat that same night at 8. . . . Chris Rock, Dennis Miller, Jon Stewart, Conan O’Brien, Ray Romano, Kathy Griffin, Paula Poundstone, Paul Rodriguez, Sarah Jessica Parker and Liam Neeson are among the performers set for “Comic Relief 8,” the annual HBO event hosted by Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg and Robin Williams. The event, being held at New York’s Radio City Music Hall, will be seen June 14 at 8 p.m. Proceeds will benefit the homeless. . . . A Beverly Hills jury has awarded $600,000 to a photographer who claimed he was manhandled and had valuable film destroyed by employees of the Viper Room nightclub after he took a picture of Mick Jagger and Uma Thurman kissing at the club in 1996. Photographer Russell Einhorn said the ruling against the Viper Room “demonstrates the integrity of the jury system because the jury was able to overcome its prejudice against paparazzi and do the right thing.”