FILM/SNEAK PEEK : SADDLE UP FOR SUMMER OF BIG-SCREEN WESTERNS.

Byline: - Bob McCarthy

Big or little? That's the litmus test when deciding on an art-house re-release of a film.

An epic like ``How the West Was Won,'' with its bigger-than-life photography and cataclysmic train wreck, is a must-see on the big screen. Same goes for cattle-driving ``Red River,'' directed by Howard Hawks, with John Wayne playing the tyrannical boss and Montgomery Clift a cowhand who stirs up rebellion along the way.

Seeing them any other way is like a one-horse town with a hanging judge. It doesn't do justice.

Like-minded movie-watchers will be glad to hear that Laemmle salutes 75 years of Warner Bros. westerns with a summer of stoic cowboys, despicable outlaws, gunfights and romance on the range starting June 27 and 28 with ``The Searchers,'' starring Wayne.

American Film Institute members voted director John Ford's saga of a man's unrelenting search for his kidnapped niece one of the top 100 films of all time, it was announced this week. It opens at Laemmle's Sunset 5 in West Hollywood and moves to Laemmle's 4-Plex in Santa Monica July 4 and 5.

Other westerns in the series include ``Rio Bravo,'' ``The Wild Bunch'' (both made the AFI's top-100 list), ``Unforgiven'' and ``The Left-Handed Gun.'' Just for laughs, ``Blazing Saddles'' is tossed into the mix.

For program information, call Laemmle's Sunset 5, 8000 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, at [phone], or Laemmle's Monica 4-Plex, 1332 Second St., Santa Monica, [phone].

Women in Film awards

Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep is being honored today as a role model for women in entertainment at the 22nd annual Crystal Awards at the Century Plaza Hotel.

Producer Gale Anne Hurd and Lucy Fisher, vice president of Columbia TriStar Motion Pictures, are other Crystal Award recipients. Carrie Fisher and ``Titanic'' director James Cameron are this year's presenters.

The 1998 Kodak Vision Award for women in cinematography, directing and producing will be given to Sandi Sissel, and Tichi Wilkerson Kassel is this year's recipient of the Norma Zacky Humanitarian Award.

Women in Film established the Crystal Awards in 1977 to recognize women for excellence and perseverance in show business. For information, call [phone].

AFI Festival dates

The AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival, coming off a huge rebound in attendance last year and the West Coast premiere of an Academy Award-winning film, is eager to duplicate that success again.

This year's event takes place Oct. 22-31 around Hollywood and Santa Monica, and a newly created advisory panel of Hollywood luminaries has been assembled to build the festival into one of the nation's best, according to organizers.

``AFI's main goal is to keep the festival fresh, to continually re-evaluate our program and to move with the changing cinematic scene,'' said festival director Jon Fitzgerald, in his second year at the helm. ``Especially in Los Angeles, which has such a discriminating audience, it's important to program according to the audience's needs.''

Not only did last year's attendance jump 30 percent, but theatrical distributors picked up several films, including the Grand Jury Prize winner, ``Character.'' It received the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film at the 1998 Academy Awards.

Members of the advisory panel include filmmaker Steven Soderberg, actress Julianne Moore, producers Jonathan Dana and Brad Wyman and exhibitor Greg Laemmle of Laemmle Theatres.

Declaration of independence

Nearly two decades after Israel became an autonomous nation, ``Cast a Giant Shadow'' revealed the role Jewish-American soldier Mickey Marcus played in its defense.

Skirball Cultural Center on Tuesday will screen the 1966 film with Kirk Douglas, John Wayne, Frank Sinatra and Yul Brynner. Douglas plays the lead role of Marcus, who leaves the States to join freedom fighters in the Arab-Israeli conflict. The film is part of the ``Imagining Israel: American Visions'' film series.

Tickets are $6 adults, $5 for Skirball members and $4 for students. The center is at 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles. Call [phone].

Learn from the best

Four top Hollywood screenwriters are lined up as guest speakers for the ``Screenwriters on Screenwriting'' series in July through UCLA Extension Writers' Program.

Bruce Joel Rubin (``Deep Impact,'' ``Jacob's Ladder''), Dana Stevens (``City of Angels'') and Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio (``The Mask of Zorro,'' ``Aladdin'') will talk about their craft and experiences in show business. Series moderator is Stan Chervin, former director of creative affairs at TriStar Pictures.

The series takes place at 7 p.m. Mondays, July 13-27, in 100 Moore Hall on the UCLA campus. Cost is $100 for the series or $30 per class at the door. For class information, call [phone] or visit the Web site: www.unex.ucla.edu.

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Photo

Photo: Get ready for a summer of John Wayne and other western stars at Laemmle theaters in West Hollywood and Santa Monica.