Auds will find Caine 'Under the Sea'

GOOD MORNING: Michael Caine, busier than he's been in years, adds yet another pic to start the new year. It's a thriller, "Shadow Run," and, sez Caine, "I'm playing the kind of role in which I got started -- a London gangster." Geoff Reeve produces and directs. Caine breezed through L.A. from the Coolongata, Australia, location of the four-hour ABC "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," in which he plays Captain Nemo. He admits, "The thing that encouraged me to do this TV movie was seeing Ted Danson in 'Gulliver's Travels.' It was so unusual for TV. They do such amazing things on TV. The sets we had (on "20,000 Leagues") were even bigger than anything I've ever had on a (theatrical) movie. And it will be seen by more people on TV than ever saw any movie of mine. TV audiences are so massive." Ironically, the "Gulliver's Travels" to which Caine was referring was made by Robert Halmi the same Robert Halmi who has also completed a competing "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" with Ben Cross as Nemo. Halmi's two-hour TV'er is for CBS. His "Sea" is completed and he says he will beat Fred Pierce's ABC miniseries to the air. CBS confirms its version could air next week Caine admits he had not worked much until recently. "I kept looking for good things and suddenly there were so many." They include "Blood and Wine," co-starring with Jack Nicholson. Caine's performance already won him the San Sebastian best actor award. He will see it for the first time when it closes the London Film Fest. It bows here Jan. 17 for Fox. He also made Showtime's "Mandela and DeKlerk" (new title to come), co-starred with Sidney Poitier, whom Caine describes as "magnificent." Caine met DeKlerk during the South Africa filming Now in Florida, Caine's readying the opening of his (sixth) restaurant, South Beach Brasserie, Dec. 2. ... Pierce told me Caine does "a wonderful job" as Captain Nemo in their "Leagues." The rest of the cast is still shooting. ... Patrick Dempsey, Mia Sara and Bryan Brown. Rod Hardy directs with Richard and Keith Pierce as producers with Jeff Hayes. It's a Fred S. Pierce and Village Roadshow production. As for Halmi, he arrived here Wednesday for last night's preem at the Museum of TV & Radio of his (Hallmark Entertainment's) "In Cold Blood," which airs Sunday and Tuesday on CBS. And he's also here for Sunday's preem/party at Par of his (also CBS-Hallmark) Angela Lansbury starrer, "Mrs. Santa Claus."

TONY DANZA'S BIGSCREENING before prepping his TV series for NBC's 1997 season and before putting on his dancing shoes for his Rainbow & Stars two-week stand Jan. 21. He stars in "The Girl Gets Moe" feature for Gold Bar Entertainment. Danza calls it "a wacky love story." Elizabeth Barondes is "the girl." Louise Fletcher, Ray (Boom Boom) Mancini, Amy Locane, Michael Madsen and James Russo co-star in the black comedy. James Bruce directs ("Headless Body in Topless Bar") and Harel Goldstein and Bill Barnett produce, Linda Brown is exec producer The busiest guy in town must be Randy Travis. I talked to him as he was heading out to Agua Dulce to co-star in WB's "Fire Down Below" starring Steven Seagal, shooting nights. During the day, Travis is acting in the indie "TNT" with Olivier Gruner, directed by Bob Radler. And when Randy gets a break, he's busy writing tunes for "Fire," although his role is dramatic, non-singing. But he and Seagal could both play and/or sing the Travis songs for a soundtrack album. "I woke up the other morning," said Randy, "and the first verse was there!" Other musical folk in the film are Patsy and Peggy Lynn (Loretta's twin daughters), Marty Stuart, Levon Helm. Travis has also found time between the two pics to cut 10 songs of his first gospel album (WB) while here in L.A., bringing in his Nashville producer, Kyle Lehnning. Travis hopes to get all these chores completed in time for his Caesars Palace stand, Dec. 12-15, because after that date he's skedded to join Francis Ford Coppola's "The Rainmaker" in a dramatic courtroom sequence with Jon Voight. ... Add country cinematics: Willie Nelson stars in Ross Merin's feature "Knights of the Road," which Burt Kennedy directs.

BARBARA EDEN TAKES OVER for her late friend Juliet Prowse to host PBS' 16th Annual Championship Ballroom Dancing special. It was a show Juliet loved and we loved to watch her take a turn on the floor herself -- a treat for all the aspiring amateur terpers. ... Stan Freberg is letting the applause on his "Stan Freberg Presents: The United States of America Volume 2" go to his head -- he's already writing Volume 3. One scene has Gen. Douglas MacArthur unable to find his sunglasses as Gen. Wainwright tells him to leave the Philippines. Freberg aficionados Richard Dreyfuss, John Goodman and Tyne Daly (in "Vol. 2"), John Ritter and Dustin Hoffman have expressed desire to be in the new (Rhino) CD. Stan signs (and quips) at Brentano's Century City Saturday (23). ... Services will be held at 11 ayem today at Mount Sinai for George Gottfried, longtime business manager and father of Lorraine (Mrs. Sid) Sheinberg and Helen (Mrs. Leonard) Vine.