A look inside Hollywood and the movies incorporating Outtakes, Cinefile and Production Chart. : VANITY CHECK : Jeez, If You Guys Don’t Like This Guy, Just Say So

Fear and loathing at Paramount Pictures . . . a continuing story.

When last the media checked in at the venerable Hollywood movie factory, staffers were still reeling from the news of a $45-million lawsuit filed against the studio by departing boss Frank Mancuso in the wake of news that independent producer Stanley Jaffe had been installed in a job above him. Now, Paramount Communications’ highest-ranking officer is about to become the subject of a Vanity Fair piece whose title--”Why Hollywood Hates Martin Davis”--tips its tone.

In the article, written by Jesse Kornbluth for the upcoming May issue, chairman Davis is said to have:

* Informed Mancuso only hours before the rest of the industry got word that Stanley Jaffe would be coming on as his boss. Mancuso would be permitted to keep his title but--as head of a studio that had lowered the book value of box-office disappointments to the tune of almost $200 million over the past year--was advised to confine himself to marketing and distribution and leave creativity to the creative folks.

* Been 1989’s seventh-highest-paid U.S. executive according to Business Week (earning some $4.1 million in salary and $7.5 million in long-term compensation). But, as owner of just 1.8% of the company stock, could be out on the street in case of a hostile takeover. Kornbluth suggests that a corporate buyout may be just what Jaffe is counting on--permitting him to leave “rich and early”--as did David Geffen when Matsushita bought MCA.

* Not only caused Time-Warner to take on a $9-billion debt, but cost his own company $55 million in investment-banking and legal fees when he opted to play the spoiler in the Time-Warner merger.

A Paramount Communications spokesman says that no Paramount executive cooperated with Kornbluth and that the company has “no comment whatsoever.”