GOOD MORNING: One of the "stars" of the original "Miracle on 34th Street" is missing from John Hughes Entertainment's remake for Fox. The "player" is Macy's -- as in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade sequence, which is now shooting in New York. I spoke to Richard Attenborough as he stood on the corner of 5th Avenue and 64th Street Thursday, readying to take his place as Kris Kringle in the parade. "It's now the 'Coles parade,' not Macy's," he told me. Not only did Macy's decline to participate in the parade, I was told the filmmakers feared Macy's might not still be around when the movie opens -- at Thanksgiving. Thus the store in the 1994 "Miracle" is Coles -- and the giant balloons made famous in Macy's parade are replaced by the moviemakers' own helium versions of clowns, trains, etc. ... The movie extra ranks (2,000) were expanded by curious New Gawkers who joined in to see what the fuss -- including two marching bands -- was all about. Diandra and Michael Douglas, whose apartment faces the parade route, spotted Attenborough and invited him up for lunch! ... Attenborough was ecstatic about young Mara Wilson, who reprises in the Natalie Wood role. "She's a magician, a rogue, a villain -- all the things an actor dreams of some day being." Her talents reminded him of young Joe Mazzello, who appeared with him in "Jurassic Park" and then was directed by Attenborough in "Shadowlands." "You breed them in the U.S.," said Attenborough. "They are as good as actors ever get. We have nothing like them in the U.K. or in Europe. You breed them here!" he repeated ... Attenborough gets a few days off "Miracle" and wings to London for the April 24 British Academy awards, for which his "Shadowlands" is a multiple nominee. "But," he quickly said, "I'm sure 'Schindler's List' will win everything and nothing would give me more pleasure. It is a monumental movie."
DUDLEY MOORE WEDS Nicole Rothschild Saturday afternoon at his house in Venice , "if she shows up," he laughingly told a neighbor. Moore celebrates his 59th birthday Tuesday, and Thursday starts filming his new sitcom for Witt/Thomas. He plays the father of three daughters and runs a fashion biz. Harvey Fierstein's his designer. Moore and Fierstein were laughing about the show as they lunched at the Columbia Bar & Grill ... Allan Folsom's "The Day After Tomorrow" goes into its fourth printing -- 500,000 copies -- after only a week and it hits the No. 3 spot on the N.Y. Times' list next week. It's to be translated into 17 languages. He's off to Europe to research his next book, also for Little, Brown. Before departing he was partied at the Peninsula by MGM's Mike Marcus and Lili and Richard Zanuck, who'll film (hopefully to star Harrison Ford). They bought the book for $ 1.5 million. It helped Folsom and wife Karen buy their home in Santa Barbara and they're expecting their first child in September ... Highlight painting selections from the estate of Mary and Swifty Lazar continue on exhibition at Sotheby's on Rodeo Drive through the weekend in advance of the auction May 11 and 12 in N.Y. Sotheby's associate, Nancy Livingston, organized a preview party where we joined 250 of the town's art lovers to view them ... An auction of fine wines will be held Sunday at the Biltmore to benefit the L.A. Music Center Opera. Oenophiles Bob Bookman, Joe Smith and Francis Coppola chair. Gourmet food will be supplied by the town's top chefs.
ROSEANNE ARNOLD GETS UCLA'S Jack Benny Award Tuesday, after which she and the Bruins will talk at the Ackerman Ballroom ..."Head of the Class" alumnus Brian Robbins' "All That," which he produced, bows Saturday on Nickelodeon and continues to become a series. He and partner Michael Tollin and Denzel Washington are also readying the Hank Aaron story "Chasing the Dream" for TBS -- as a half docu and half "mood piece," to air during the World Series. They're also prepping TLC's MTV sitcom series ... Maggie Hamilton, who chose the right gowns for stars including Lana Turner, Marilyn Monroe, Joan Crawford and hundreds of others, was partied by Ginny Sydorick as the well-loved Maggie retires from Saks Fifth Ave. BevHills after -- 48 years! ..."The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All" CBS mini (airs May 1-3) was partied at the DGA by CBS, William Morris and ICM with Women in Film. The show's produced by Frank Konigsberg and Larry Sanitsky, the latter was there getting congrats as he moves over to CBS exec city. Also being toasted there was Peter Tortorici, who moves up to top the CBS entertainment ladder ... The Hollywood Galaxy was packed for Gramercy/Polygram Filmed Entertainment's "Backbeat" bow. Rolling Stone Keith Richards, a legend himself, was viewing the movie about the Beatles.
Contact Army Archerd at
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