`SCHINDLER'S LIST' A DOUBLE RARITY : NBC, FORD RUNNING HEROIC FILM AD-FREE.

Byline: Keith Marder Daily News Television Writer

Television networks and people who sell cars are not usually what you think of when you think public service. But tonight, a network and a car company will give the public an evening of television unlike any before it.

The Academy Award-winning ``Schindler's List,'' a movie based on the heroic story of a Nazi war profiteer who saved 1,100 Jews during World War II, will be shown in its three-hour entirety - with no commercials - on NBC under Ford's sponsorship.

The car company bought all eight minutes of national advertising and will use about two of them, one before and one after the screening. Then, during the film itself, there are two intermissions during which the screen will go black, with a ``Schindler's List,'' a timer showing when the movie will resume and a Ford logo at the bottom of the screen. Neither Ford nor NBC would reveal the cost of the broadcast.

``I think it's nothing short of a monumental moment in television, especially the way they're doing it with tremendous dignity,'' said Rabbi Gary Greenebaum, western regional director of the American Jewish Committee.

``It's a dignified portrayal of the Jews who suffered in the Holocaust. It's also a dignified portrayal of the righteous person (Oskar Schindler) who risked his life to save other lives.''

The movie, which won Best Picture in 1993, will be cut slightly and is being shown on television under the rating TV-M, for mature audiences only, because of the grim scenes in the concentration camps. Producer and director Steven Spielberg made the alterations himself, and John Agoglia, president of NBC enterprises, said people who have seen the film will not be able to see the changes.

The one ad Ford is including is pretty low-key: ``No matter who you are, Ford has a vehicle that's right for you.'' It was made especially for this broadcast premiere in an effort to be unobtrusive and respectful of the serious nature of the movie.

``It's a very emotional, wrenching film that has horrible scenes in it and is a re-enactment of something that really happened,'' said William Croasdale, president of the national broadcast division of Western International Media, a media buying firm.

``Then, you have to take into account what normal television commercials are: happy and peppy and extolling the virtues of a car - they would be so out of place in a movie like `Schindler's List.' ''

Gerry Donnelly, marketing communication manager at Ford, said the hope is that more people will see the movie on TV than even in theaters, where it was viewed by 25 million people. Some see this as a barometer: Can a Sunday evening during February sweeps go commercial-free?

Croasdale noted the possibility that the movie will not draw the expected ratings because it may be too intense for home viewing.

``The subject matter may be such that it will turn a lot of people off,'' he said. ``In the confines of their own home they may not feel comfortable. In a theater they are watching with a mass of humanity, and there is safety in numbers and a comfort factor.''

Donnelly said NBC wanted to be ``associated with something of high educational value and historical significance.'' And,``it will help elevate and polish the blue oval a great deal.''

Ironically, Henry Ford, founder of the auto company, was one of the most notorious anti-Semites in American history, Donnelly said. For one thing, he published articles based on anti-Semitic tracts, ``The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,'' fictional works that dealt with a Jewish plot to take over the world.

``Many Jews, including my father, would never buy a Ford,'' said Rabbi Harold Schulweis of Encino's Valley Beth Shalom. ``It is remarkable that Henry Ford's grandchildren are doing this. It's a wonderful lesson to be learned that the sins of the father should not be visited by the second and third generations.''

THE FACTS

The film: ``Schindler's List.''

The stars: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kinglsey.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Steven Spielberg. Produced by Steven Spielberg, Gerald R. Molen, Branko Lustig. Screenplay by Steve Zaillian. Based on the novel by Thomas Keneally.

Running time: Three hours, 17 minutes. A Spielberg message about his Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation will follow the movie.

When: 7:30 tonight.

Channel: NBC (Channel 4).

What else: Descriptive narrative by Holocaust survivors will be simulcast for the visually impaired over Cable Radio Network (Channels 28, 58 and 68 on Century Communications in the San Fernando Valley; Channel 6 on Century Communications in Ventura County; Channel 19 on Comcast in Simi Valley; Channel 3 on Continental Cablevision; Channel 97 on TCI; Channel 18 on Time Warner Cable). It will be broadcast live from the Simon Weisenthal Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

Photo: (1) Liam Neeson, left, and Ben Ben Kingsley star in ``Shindler's List,'' which airs tonight on NBC. The film, shown in its three-hour entirety - with no commercials - is sponsored by Ford Motor Co.

(2) ``Schindler's List'' is being shown on television under the rating TV-M, for mature audiences only, because of the grim scenes in the concentration camps.