MOVIESAnniversary Plea: French actress Catherine Deneuve and...

MOVIES

Anniversary Plea: French actress Catherine Deneuve and the United Nations culture agency have launched celebrations in Paris to mark the 100th anniversary of cinema with an appeal for contributions to help save the world’s film heritage. A festival of “rescued” turn-of-the-century films opened Monday night at UNESCO headquarters, and on Tuesday, Deneuve and agency head Federico Mayor were to preside at the first meeting of the UNESCO/International Federation of Film Archives Fund with an appeal for member states to help pay for film preservation. UNESCO estimates that more than three-quarters of the films made before 1950 have already disappeared and that more than half the films made after 1950 could be destroyed by gradual bleaching if they are not treated. In addition, UNESCO experts say, at least 10% of the 7.2 billion feet of film conserved in libraries throughout the world urgently needs restoration, at a cost of up to $1.7 billion.

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Hiller’s Response: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Arthur Hiller issued a strong response Tuesday to Monday’s preliminary court ruling upholding the academy’s rules barring “The Last Seduction”--which aired on cable’s HBO before going to theaters--from Oscar consideration. “The court’s ruling re-emphasizes the academy’s right to carve out a logical and reasonable area of activity, and to decline any aspiration to be all things to all artists,” Hiller said, adding: “We also hope this ruling sends a message to those who might contemplate similarly frivolous actions in the future.” Hiller called for “condemnation” of both October Films and its attorneys for filing “unfair and hopeless suits for less-than-honorable purposes.” But he noted that the artists involved in the film were not party to the action and said the academy “looks forward to many future years’ worth of Oscar-qualifying work from them.” October Films had sued the academy over its rule that movies shown on TV first are ineligible for the Oscars. Monday’s ruling denied the company’s request to halt Oscar nominations until the dispute is resolved. An attorney for October Films said Monday that the company hadn’t yet decided whether to go forward with the lawsuit.

POP/ROCK

Speaking Out: Courtney Love says that she has “no reason to doubt the thoroughness and outcome of the investigation” that concluded that the April death of her husband, Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain, was a suicide. A private detective hired by Love to locate Cobain when he disappeared before being found dead in the couple’s Seattle home has made recent public suggestions that Cobain’s death may have been a murder. In a statement refuting those allegations, Love, lead singer of the band Hole, said: “It’s appalling that someone would try to take advantage of the tragedy of the Cobain family. A mother has lost a son, a wife has lost a husband, and a daughter has lost a father. The fact that someone would try to gain publicity from this suffering is unimaginable.”

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Whole Lotta Zeppelin: Robert Plant and Jimmy Page of the legendary rock group Led Zeppelin will be guests on a two-hour edition of the national interactive radio program “Rockline,” airing at 10 tonight on KLSX-FM (97.1). Although the program airs here on tape delay, fans can call (800) 344-ROCK from 5 to 7 p.m. to talk to Plant and Page. KLSX evening deejay Jim Ladd will lead in to the program at 8 p.m. with two hours of Zeppelin songs culled from listener requests.

TELEVISION

Interactive TV: In what is being billed as the first network TV broadcast to take on-line questions, viewers of CBS’ new “Late Late Show With Tom Snyder” can communicate directly with Snyder through the CBS area on the Prodigy on-line computer service. Snyder, who describes his show as “like a little all-night diner on the information superhighway,” will include selected questions from Prodigy subscribers among those answered during the call-in segment of his broadcast. The address for Prodigy users is CBSo30A; for Internet users, it is CBSo30A prodigy.com.

Bundy Party: Fox’s “Married . . . With Children” celebrates its status as network TV’s current longest-running sitcom on Feb. 5 with an hourlong special culminating with the airing of the show’s 200th episode. The 8:30 p.m. program also features author-journalist George Plimpton recalling the most memorial moments of the Bundy family’s past nine seasons.

QUICK TAKES

CBS will turn over its entire Thursday night prime-time schedule on Jan. 26 to “CBS Reports: In the Killing Fields of America,” a special three-hour, in-depth documentary on violence in America . . . Saturday’s premiere of William Shatner’s science-fiction series “TekWar” on the USA Network drew more than 2.1 million viewing homes, making it the most-watched premiere episode in basic-cable history. . . . Los Angeles talent agency Ruth Webb Enterprises Inc. has filed suit in Los Angeles against actor Mickey Rooney and his production company, alleging that the actor owes more than $500,000 in commissions for work he got on five productions between 1987 and 1994.