REVOLUTIONARY ARTIST NEVER STAYED INSIDE THE LINES.

Byline: David Kronke TV Critic

``Just be grateful if in autumn you can still manage a smile'' is a piece of wisdom Gordon Parks absorbed early in his life. As his 88th year begins, it's clear not only that Parks still can smile, but so can those who have experienced the vast breadth of his artistry.

``Half Past Autumn: The Life and Works of Gordon Parks'' is a strong, comprehensive filmic biography of America's first bona fide renaissance man. It shows us a man who excelled in photography - he was the first black photographer to work for the most prestigious magazines photographers could toil for, Life and Vogue. He translated that astonishing visual sensibility into film: His movies include ``The Learning Tree,'' which the National Film Registry early on earmarked for preservation, and the original ``Shaft,'' still hipper than the recent remake. It also shows us a man who wrote novels and no less than three autobiographies, as well as much poetry; and for good measure, he composed music and even choreographed a ballet paying homage to Martin Luther King Jr.

Few can excel at any of those art forms; that Parks demonstrated tremendous facility at all of them - particularly given that his high school teacher frankly informed him that she held out little hope for a black man amounting to anything - is nothing short of miraculous.

In addition to listing his accomplishments, the film also delves into his personal life, listening to the takes his three ex-wives and his children had on him. They're not always flattering, but they are understanding. ``Half Past Autumn'' is a straightforward documentary about an extraordinary subject who spent his life scribbling outside the lines proscribed by society.