FILM SNEAK PEEK BOGDANOVICH'S HEARST FILM PREVIEWS AT CINEMATHEQUE.

Byline: - Valerie Kuklenski

``The Cat's Meow,'' a roaring '20s thriller about deal-making, desire and death, gets a sneak preview tonight at American Cinematheque even though Lions Gate has put off its theatrical release until April.

The latest from director Peter Bogdanovich stars Edward Herrmann as William Randolph Hearst, Kirsten Dunst as Marion Davies and Eddie Izzard as Charlie Chaplin in an account of a real 1924 weekend yacht cruise that - according to disputed reports - ended in a deadly shooting.

``The Cat's Meow'' screens at 7 p.m. at the Egyptian Theatre, which figures in the plot, followed by a panel discussion with Izzard, Herrmann, actor Cary Elwes (who plays producer Thomas Ince) and screenwriter Steven Peros. A prescreening reception is set for 6:30 p.m.

The theme of '20s Hollywood continues through the weekend with other films tied to this one, such as Ince's 1916 drama ``Civilization,'' which urged American neutrality in World War I; Chaplin's ``The Gold Rush''; and a pair of Davies comedies produced by Hearst - ``The Patsy'' and ``Peg o' My Heart.''

Tonight's tickets are $15 for general admission, $14 for students and $12 for American Cinematheque members. The Egyptian is at 6712 Hollywood Blvd. Information: [phone] or www.egyptiantheatre.com on the Web.

THAT TIME OF YEAR: The frost is on the pumpkin, the leaves are turning, and somewhere a filmmaker on a shoestring budget is trying to capture autumn with a borrowed 16mm camera on film he will process in his garage. It must be DOCtober.

DOCtober, the fifth annual film festival from the International Documentary Association, is under way through Oct. 30 at Laemmle's Monica 4-Plex Theatre in Santa Monica, with 19 films ranging in subject from one noted filmmaker to heroic struggles against the Nazis to a widowed checkers player.

``Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures,'' with tributes from Tom Cruise, Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese, plays tonight, Saturday afternoon and Sunday evening.

World War II is a prominent topic this year, represented by ``Sisters in Resistance,'' about four Frenchwomen who fought Nazi oppression; ``Sugihara: Conspiracy of Kindness,'' about the Japanese consul to Lithuania who rescued Jewish refugees in 1939; and ``Price for Peace,'' a chronicle of the Pacific Theater produced by Steven Spielberg, historian Stephen E. Ambrose and director James Moll.

``The Checker King,'' about a lonely widower who sets out to pay tribute to his wife by competing in the National Checker Tournament, will be shown three times this weekend, along with Ken Burns' new biographical short, ``Mark Twain.''

Tickets range from $5.50 for students and $8.50 for general admission to $80 for a festival pass, and are available through the Laemmle Monica 4-Plex box office at 1332 Second St. Information: [phone], Ext. 7438 or go to www.documentary.org on the Web.

CSUN GOES CINEPHILE: The Cinematheque at California State University, Northridge, begins its inaugural event Monday, ``Six Evenings in Search of a Screenwriter.''

The series of talks by film and television writers addresses such issues as writing for episodic television, making a career of writing, the Hollywood blacklist and current issues facing writers.

The panels take place in the Alan and Elaine Armer Theatre in the new Manzanita Hall building.

On Oct. 27, the campus' Studio Cinematheque will present its first Cinematheque Awards to screenwriters Paul Thomas Anderson (``Magnolia,'' ``Boogie Nights'') and Robert Towne (``Chinatown,'' ``Mission: Impossible''). Anderson and Towne also will discuss their work and take questions in a program that adapts the biography/interview format of ``Inside the Actors Studio.

Admission is free but seating is limited. Information: [phone] or www.csuncinematheque.com on the Web.

'BURNT' OFFERING: ``Burnt by the Sun,'' the 1994 foreign-language Oscar winner from Russia, will be shown Saturday at the Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro.

Director Nikita Mikhalov stars as a veteran of the revolution who in 1936 is basking in the glory of the Bolsheviks' success, while remaining in denial about the Stalin regime's aggression and tyranny. He and his wife and daughter (played by the director's own scene-stealing child) are enjoying a holiday in the Russian countryside when his wife's ex-lover, a Stalinist policeman, arrives and sheds light on the situation.

A flier describes the film as ``an easy-to-take cautionary tale about resting on one's laurels and the dangers of ceasing to be vigilant.''

``Burnt by the Sun'' will be shown at 7:30 p.m. The Warner Grand is at 478 W. Sixth St. Information: [phone] or www.warnergrand.net on the Web.

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Photo:

``The Cat's Meow,'' about the maybe-murder of film producer Thomas Ince stars, from left, Edward Herrmann, Kirsten Dunst, Eddie Izzard and Joanna Lumley.