Cinema: Nights of The Falling Stars

Remember the 1980s? They had movie stars then. Burt Reynolds was the hot-shot hero with a good ole boy's heart. Richard Pryor was the clown who mined laughter from his own black rage. Molly Ringwald was the teen queen who knew that growing pains could hurt like an all-over, seven-year toothache.

By 1987, though, things had changed: shooting stars can be falling stars too. And sometimes audiences can get along very nicely without stars at all. Only three of the year's ten top box-office hits could be called star vehicles, and each of them fronted a performer who seemed a corrupted form of one of the earlier models. Arnold Schwarzenegger in Predator: instead of an amiable hunk like Reynolds, an incredible hulk, muscle-bound and soul-bare -- Robo-star. Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop II: instead of the wailing bantam Pryor, a strutting rooster, increasingly aloof from his genial gifts. Michael J. Fox in The Secret of My Success: instead of the teen queen, a yuppie pup, too eager to make it, too hungry to charm. He was a scrubbed-up version of the rich preppie Ringwald usually ditched in the last reel.

Meanwhile, Reynolds and Pryor kept making movies, but no one paid much attention. (Remember Malone? Critical Condition?) Reynolds occupied himself as director at his dinner theater in Jupiter, Fla., and as executive producer of the TV game show Win, Lose or Draw. Pryor retreated into the shadows of his fading celebrity. Both stars made bigger news appearing with Johnny Carson or Barbara Walters to refute stories that they were ill with AIDS. Ringwald switched mentors, leaving John Hughes, who had made her a star with Sixteen Candles and Pretty in Pink, for Warren Beatty. It didn't work. Their film, The Pick-Up Artist, was the Ishtar of youth comedies: better than its rep, but still a resounding flop.

And now that the big Christmas films have made their mint, each of these former reliables tiptoes into town with a new movie designed not to stir a sensation but to fill booking dates. Pryor's film, Moving, is a comedy about a mass-transit engineer who loses his job, relocates to the Idaho ruburbs and declares war on his "neighbor from hell" (Randy Quaid). Among the cast are < Saturday Night Live's Dana Carvey, SCTV's Dave Thomas and the World Wrestling Federation's King Kong Bundy. Behind the camera is Alan Metter, who directed Rodney Dangerfield's 1986 hit Back to School. Since Moving was unavailable for screening last week, we can only wish Pryor good luck. Reynolds and Ringwald, though, may need the power of prayer. Their new pictures, Rent-a-Cop and For Keeps?, indicate that these engaging stars face a tough battle to win back their old fans.