ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT REPORTS FROM THE TIMES, NEWS SERVICES AND THE NATION’S PRESS.

MOVIES

‘Clockwork’ Ticks Again: Director Stanley Kubrick’s acclaimed 1971 movie, “A Clockwork Orange,” starring Malcolm McDowell as a major misfit, is being shown in British theaters for the first time in more than a quarter-century. Kubrick, who died last year, withdrew the film after a rash of controversy about copycat crimes. In 1973, newspaper reports blamed the film for inspiring a 16-year-old boy to kill a tramp. Actually, the boy had not seen the film, but had read the novel by Anthony Burgess on which the movie was based. In London’s Daily Telegraph this week, critic Andrew O’Hagan proclaimed the film a “philosophical masterpiece” and praised it as a morality tale, a satire and a portrait of Britain. “Perhaps most importantly and most upsettingly of all,” O’Hagan wrote, “the film has the courage--and Kubrick had the prescience--to deal with the stylization of violence in our time, a stylization that society now takes entirely for granted.”

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Oscar Buzz: Tyra Banks and Chris Connelly will join Meredith Vieira as co-hosts of the red-carpet arrivals show, “Countdown to Oscars 2000,” from 5 to 5:30 p.m. at the Shrine Auditorium, prior to ABC’s 72nd annual Academy Awards telecast March 26. Banks, who made her name as a model and recently co-hosted a series of episodes of “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” will appear in Jerry Bruckheimer’s summer release “Coyote Ugly.” Connelly is a broadcast correspondent and editorial director of MTV News. . . . Two-time Oscar winner Mel Gibson and twice-nominated actor Edward Norton have been added to the list of Oscar presenters.

STAGE

Rights, Music, Gershwin: Actor, playwright, composer and Steinway concert artist Hershey Felder, 31, will take the title role in “George Gershwin Alone” in a limited engagement, fully produced workshop at the Tiffany Theatre in Los Angeles from March 28 to April 2. Under the direction of Joel Zwick, a stage and television veteran, the play, written by Felder and produced by his HTG (Honest to Goodness Productions Inc.) company, is part of the process required by Gershwin’s heirs to bring the work to Broadway. It also marks the first time the heirs of Gershwin and his lyricist brother, Ira, have given the rights to develop the George Gershwin role for the stage.

AWARDS

Genii Winners Are . . .: Actress Camryn Manheim (“The Practice”); Carole Black, president of Lifetime Entertainment; Mary Beth Garber, president of the Southern California Broadcasters Assn.; and Whoopi Goldberg are the honorees of the 45th annual Genii Awards, it was announced Friday. Presented by the Southern California chapter of American Women in Radio & Television Inc., the Geniis will be presented April 12 in Beverly Hills. Goldberg receives the award for lifetime achievement, while Manheim is being honored for television performance, Black for television production and Garber for radio.

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And Vision Winners . . .: NAACP President Kweisi Mfume and actress Rita Moreno (HBO’s “Oz”) will get top honors at the sixth annual Vision Awards, honoring distinctive cable programming that reflects cultural diversity, April 14 in Beverly Hills. Mfume will receive the Quasar Award for his efforts to increase diversity on broadcast and cable TV. Moreno will be cited for her 50-year career and efforts to boost opportunities for Latinos and others of color. The awards are being presented by the National Assn. of Minorities in Communications, based in La Palma. Steve Harvey, star of WB’s “The Steve Harvey Show,” will serve as master of ceremonies.

PEOPLE

Hospitalized in Vegas: Rodney Dangerfield, 77, was hospitalized in Las Vegas on Thursday after he wrapped up a six-night performance at the MGM Grand hotel-casino. Officials at Sunrise Hospital said the comedian remained in stable condition Friday. Hospital spokeswoman Ann Lynch declined to disclose the reason for the hospitalization. MGM officials had no comment. Dangerfield’s agent in New York, Dennis Arch, could not immediately be reached for comment.

QUICK TAKES

The third edition of “Talk With the Police Chief” will air Monday in the 4 p.m. hour on KABC-AM (790) when Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard C. Parks will be in studio with Larry Elder to field questions from host and listeners. . . . Hillary Rodham Clinton talks about family politics and the U.S. Senate in a conversation with Candice Bergen on Oxygen’s “Exhale With Candice Bergen” Monday at 10 p.m. Talk magazine editor Tina Brown is also a guest. . . . Tim Conway has been added to the cast of Ellen DeGeneres’ pilot for CBS, which is slated to shoot next month for consideration on the fall lineup. DeGeneres has described the project in part as a variety show modeled after “The Carol Burnett Show,” on which Conway was a regular cast member. . . . Daisy Fuentes, Malcolm Jamal-Warner and Dave Coulier host the PRISM Awards 2000 Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. in Beverly Hills. The awards recognize the accurate depiction of drug, alcohol and tobacco use in TV, feature films and comic books. . . . NBC’s “Twenty One” will join Pax TV’s Saturday night lineup starting April 8. The quiz show will run on Pax five days after airing in its Monday slot on NBC, which purchased a 32% stake in the company last year.