WHAT'S HAPPENING : FILM.

`The Graduate' returns: As ``Star Wars'' was to the '70s, ``The Graduate'' was to the '60s - a movie that both caught the attitudes of a generation and pointed the way to its future.

Now back in a brand-new, 30th anniversary print struck from the 1967 camera negative, Mike Nichols' smug morality tale looks a lot less radical than it once did - if it ever did. But this pseudo-rebellious tale arguably plays even better in the '90s than it did in the '60s; we have, after all, grown quite comfortably into our parents' hypocrisies. Regardless, ``The Graduate's'' superb performances and sharp social comedy make for a timeless, absorbing experience.

Playing Benjamin Braddock, back home from college with no clue about what to do, deservedly made a star out of Dustin Hoffman; he's both dorky and dismissively superior to his elders. Anne Bancroft is even better as the formidable Mrs. Robinson, who seduces Ben for a complex variety of reasons, not least of which is his interest in her daughter Elaine (Katharine Ross).

Simon & Garfunkel did the famous soundtrack. Calder Willingham and Buck Henry wrote the classic dialogue. Even in a world that's gone totally plastic, both still sound great.

?13- Bob Strauss

family

Museum goes to the cats: For as much time as your cat spends cleaning its fur (15 percent of its day) and sleeping alone (70 percent), it probably doesn't know much about itself. The critter isn't aware of the 4,000 years of domestication that has created its mild demeanor. It doesn't know about its 65.8 million relatives in American homes, the 290 bones inside its body or even its top speed of 30 mph. But human counterparts can learn all about cats, domestic and exotic, past and present, at the Natural History Museum's ``Cats! Wild to Mild,'' a hands-on celebration the feline form, attitude and history. The exhibit, featuring 25 taxidermal (or ``stuffed'') cats from around the world, opens Sunday at the museum, 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles. Call [phone].

?13- Glenn Gaslin

theater

A smash hit: STOMP, those international smashmeisters, have become as all-American as Chevys. Turn on the telly and you'll see them everywhere: Coke commercials, Target ads, hanging out with Jay, Oprah and Mr. Rogers, or slamming doors to syncopated film clips at last year's Oscar ceremonies.

Though reared in the best traditions of British street vaudeville, STOMP speaks an international dialect of bangs, crashes, clicks and swooshes that needs no translation.

Now Luke Creswell and his seven crewmates are back in L.A. for an extended run (through March 23) at the Veterans Wadsworth Theater near Wilshire and San Vicente boulevards, so you've got no excuse for not seeing them. Performances are 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 5 and 9 p.m. Saturday; 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $39, $15 for UCLA students with ID.

Call [phone].

?13 - Reed Johnson 

music

Whole lotta harmony: Although they cut some 30 albums over the past 14 years, South African vocal ensemble Ladysmith Black Mambazo did not become well-known throughout the world until Paul Simon hired them in 1986 to perform on ``Graceland.''

The a cappella singing and high-kicking dancing of the group make up a Zulu art, transformed with touches of doo-wop, gospel and reggae.

After ``Graceland,'' Simon produced what remains Ladysmith's most accessible work for Western ears, the Grammy Award-winning ``Shaka Zulu,'' which was partially sung in English.

The 10-member harmony group appears tonight at Caltech's Beckman Auditorium in Pasadena.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo was founded in 1970 by singer Joseph Shabalala with his family and friends in the town of Ladysmith. But the choir's worldwide fame could not protect them from injustice in their homeland. In 1991, Shabalala was shot and killed along a highway in Durban; a white security guard was convicted of manslaughter.

Beckman Auditorium is at Michigan Avenue, south of Del Mar Boulevard, in Pasadena. Show time is 8 p.m. and tickets are $29 to $35. Information: [phone].

?13- Fred Shuster

art

Caddies for cash: Technically, it's a rare 1940 Cadillac dual side mounted convertible. Some might argue that it's a work of art, too.

Artistry will be in the eye of the beholder - and the bidder - on Saturday when about 50 vintage Cadillacs go on the auction block in Universal City. All currently belong to Ed Cholakian, a Cadillac collector since 1978 and owner of Sylmar-based All Cadillacs of the '40s.

For an $8 admission fee ($3 for kids), nonbidding citizens can eyeball the offerings beginning at 10 a.m. at the Universal Sheraton Hotel.

In addition to indulgences such as the 1948 Caddy sedan featured in the movie ``Bird,'' there'll be a 1977 Mercedes-Benz 6.9 sedan and, we're told, a 1996 Vector M-12, one of only four made.

Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (or whenever the last car is sold). The hotel is located at 333 Universal Terrace Parkway. For information, call [phone].

?13- Reed Johnson

CAPTION(S):

4 Photos

Photo: (1) Britain's eight-member STOMP brings its percussive power to the Veterans Wadsworth Theater through March 23.

(2) no caption (Cats! Wild to Mild)

(3) The South African a cappella group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, which performed on Paul Simon's ``Graceland'' album, appears tonight at Caltech's Beckman Auditorium.

(4) Dustin Hoffman and Katharine Ross star in ``The Graduate,'' which is being re-released in theaters for its 30th anniversary.