Heavy-duty names add resonance to MGM lion's roar.

It was exactly one year ago this month that Italian financier Giancarlo Parretti bought his way into Hollywood by purchasing MGM/UA Communications Co. from Kirk Kerkorian for $1.36 billion.

Since then, the once-mighty studio and its roaring-lion logo have been cowed into humility by a string of box-office duds and a costly cat brawl for control of the company, now renamed MGM-Pathe Communications Co.

While MGM-Pathe's financial condition is expected to remain precarious for at least another couple years, the company now seems to finally be making some headway under the leadership of Chairman Alan Ladd Jr.

"When Parretti was master of the ship, major talent was reluctant to commit to long-term deals because they weren't sure what was going on over here," said Barry Lorie, executive vice president of marketing for MGM/UA Distribution Co. "Once it became clear that 'Laddie' (Ladd) had been put in charge, people became willing to join the team."

The recent wave of "joiners" at MGM-Pathe began back in late September, when film star Jason Patric signed an 18-month production deal with the studio. Patric and his company, Fleece Productions, previously had been under contract to Columbia Pictures. But now MGM-Pathe will get first crack at developing the brooding New Yorker's projects. Next month, MGM-Pathe is scheduled to release a highly touted new film starring Patric, a "powerful, thought-provoking drama" titled "Rush."

The next Hollywood heavyweights to join MGM-Pathe's new team were Richard and Lili Fini Zanuck, Academy Award winners for "Driving Miss Daisy," who jointly signed an exclusive three-year deal with MGM-Pathe in October.

The Zanucks are producers of "Rush," which also marks Lili Fini Zanuck's directorial debut. The husband-and-wife team earlier this month were scheduled to complete filming of a second picture for MGM-Pathe, "Rich In Love." That movie, filmed on location in South Carolina, is scheduled for release next year. It is being done by the same creative team that produced "Driving Miss Daisy."

"The film has a lot of similarities to 'Daisy' in that it deals with matters of the heart," Richard Zanuck told the Business Journal. "We think it could have wonderful results."

But he added that joining forces with MGM-Pathe is not without risk.

"Sure, there is concern about the financial stability of the company (MGM-Pathe)," he said. "But if everybody with that concern decided not to deal with the company, it really would go out of business. We all take a certain amount of risk in everything we do."

Zanuck conceded that his trust lies more with Ladd, a long-time friend, than with MGM-Pathe as a whole.

"I go back a long way with Laddie," Zanuck said. "And I believe he is going to pull it (the MGM-Pathe turnaround) off. When all the dust settles, and he has time to devote all his energy to picture-making, Laddie will turn it around. I'm sure of it. And I want to be part of that."

Yet another Hollywood heavyweight to join MGM-Pathe's team in recent weeks is Tony Bill, producer of "The Sting," "Five Corners" and "Going In Style," and director of "My Bodyguard," "Six Weeks" and "Crazy People."

Bill is set to direct a romantic comedy titled "The Baboon Heart" for MGM-Pathe. The movie's script has garnered raves from local trade magazines and talent agents. Major stars are reportedly fighting to play the leads. Madonna agreed to screen test for the female lead, a lower-class waitress in New Jersey who "teaches an odd young man about love, life and sex."

MGM-Pathe's recent success at attracting major talent and starting production on some major new films comes just a few months after Parretti alienated the Hollywood establishment by stiffing some of its most respected and highest-paid actors as well as vendors. Among those jilted were Tom Selleck and Sean Connery.

But those days are now a thing of the past, promised MGM-Pathe's Lorie.

"We have motion-picture people back running this company," he said. "So one has assurances that people here know what they're doing, that deals will be honored and so forth. Whereas in days prior to this, nobody knew anything."

Despite MGM-Pathe's recent deals, and strong support for Ladd, Wall Street analysts remain largely unconvinced.

"Regardless of who's captain of that (MGM-Pathe) ship, it's still an awfully leaky ship because it's badly undercapitalized," said Doug Lowell, entertainment analyst with the investment banking firm of L.H. Alton & Co. "The MGM name and logo still carry value, but much of the company's value has been licensed away. And it remains to be seen what new product will be developed."

Skepticism about the quality of MGM-Pathe's future film slate is understandable, considering the fact that six of its past 13 films have grossed less than $400,000 each at the box office.

The biggest flop was "Fires Within," a movie that cost $9.6 million to make and took in less than $50,000 at the box office. The biggest success was "Thelma & Louise," which cost $17 million to make and garnered nearly $45 million in box office receipts.

Meanwhile, MGM-Pathe's TV division could prove to be an important buttress to the company's sagging bottom line.

True, two of the company's five network shows were recently canceled -- "thirtysomething" and "Dark Shadows." But "In The Heat Of The Night" is currently airing its fifth year on NBC, and "The Young Riders" is in its third year on ABC. Also, waiting in the wings is "Nightmare Cafe," an hour-long horror drama produced by MGM-Pathe for NBC. The new series has already been bought by the network and will air "as soon as they find a time slot for it," reported a spokesman for MGM-Pathe's TV division, MGM/UA Television Production Group.

"The big news right now is that we're preparing to launch 'thirtysomething' and 'In The Heat Of The Night' into domestic syndication; that's where the money's at," the spokesman said.

Both shows are already being syndicated in foreign markets. MGM-Pathe plans to introduce the two shows for sale in the domestic syndication market in January, at the National Association of Television Program Executives convention in New Orleans.

While ABC did recently pull the plug on "thirtysomething," the yuppie drama could still be resuscitated.

"ABC has told us they would be interested in us producing for them a couple two-hour 'thirtysomething' movies," MGM-Pathe's TV spokesman said. "On top of that, NBC said they'd like to have discussions about the possibility of doing a limited series, six or eight episodes."

The likelihood of "thirtysomething" being revived as a weekly series remains doubtful, however. Some of its stars reportedly are demanding eight-figure annual salaries, unheard of in TV circles and far too rich for MGM-Pathe's anemic condition.

MGM-Pathe's TV division has also finished producing three made-for-TV movies, all of which have been sold to networks.

In its corporate offices, MGM-Pathe's TV division has also added a few new titles.

Sid Cohen, long-time president of syndication giant King World Television, in October signed on as president of MGM/UA Domestic Television Distribution. "Our syndication division had been dormant since November of last year, when Parretti came in here and disassembled the joint," said one MGM/UA official.

Earlier this month, Ed Gradinger joined MGM-Pathe as president of its MGM/UA Television Group. He was formerly president and chief executive officer of New World Entertainment. Gradinger replaces Lynn Loring, who resigned in July to "pursue other interests."

Both Cohen and Gradinger will report directly to David Gerber, chairman and chief executive of MGM Worldwide Television Group. On Sept. 11 of this year, Gerber agreed to a multi-year extension of his contract at MGM-Pathe, as well.