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BY JIMMY SUMMERS

Where else can
they go for Star
Trek IV? How
about a trip
back to the
20th Century
for the Enter-
prise crew (left
to right Defor-
est Kelly, Wil-
liam Shatner
and Leonard Ni-
moy) to prevent
a future ecologi-
cal disaster.

destroyed and its crew were fugitives. This latest
chapter tries to solve those problems by taking
Kirk and Co. back to 1980s San Francisco to
solve the 22nd Century's ecological problems.
Leonard Nimoy once again plays Spock and per-
forms the directing chores.

Nov. 21-AN AMERICAN TAIL That's
"'tail,' as in "mouse tail." The hero of this immi-
grant saga is a cute rodent who arrives on these
shores from faraway places. In case you're won-
dering, it is animated, courtesy of Don Bluth (The
Secret ofNIMM-
Nov. 26-BODY SLAM It seems a little late to
cash in on the professional wrestling craze. But
what the heck. Who's going to argue with these
guys? They can do whatever they want, whenev-
er they want. Among the bone crushers in the
cast are Rowdy Roddy Piper, Captain Lou Alba-
no, The Two Samoyas, The Barbarians and the
ever-ferocious Tanya Roberts.

home front. "I started doing him at home. I'd
skip out of the shower, and my wife, Nancy,
would be on the phone, and I'd give her an Ed
Grimley grimace and disappear. From that came
the idea that there was something magical about
Ed. Maybe he only appeared in the nude. Well,
you can't do that on TV, but it's the thought that
counts. At other times, Nancy would say, 'I
don't want to talk to you. Let me talk to Ed,' and
I'd talk to her as Ed." Thus Grimley evolved.
Short is very protective of Grimley, as he is of
all his created characters, believing firmly that
~ 'Less is more ' If you retreat from them for
awhile, put them in storage and then bring them
out again, the audience doesn't get bored with
them, and you can hang on to them longer." He
also feels Grimley is strictly "short form," so
don't look for an Ed Grimley film.
II'Less is more' is my philosophy in general,"
says Short. "I've never felt, for instance, that I
wasjust working until the day that I could get into
feature films and then I'd do only films. I love TV
I'd much rather be involved in a good TV series
than a mediocre film. I want very much to do a
play in New York very soon.''
Nevertheless, Short is currently doing three
films back-to-back. Besides Amigos, he's co-
starring in the new Joe Dante-Steven Spielberg
spectacular fnner Space with Dennis Quaid and
Road Warrior's villainous Vernon Wells. This De-
cember, he'll make American Date, "which is
just what it says: a sweet, funny film about a
date" for writer-director Armyan Bernstein.
Though clearly set to become a major star in
America, Short is already a star where it matters
most-in Short's Bar in Crosslaglen, Northern
Ireland. "My family is half Irish. We have lots of
relatives in Eire, and my uncle runs the bar in (the
border town of) Crossmaglen. I first went there
in 1980, and it was a little frightening to see the
burned-out buildings, the tanks, to have soldiers
pointing guns at you while they checked the car
trunk. I went back recently and things seemed a
little better.
'My uncle has some magazine covers of me
up in the bar, and The Associates was shown in
Ireland. I'm a 'Short' who's done well for himself
and that's OK with them, you know."
The Three Amigos was directed by John Lan-
dis. Short says Landis encouraged his three
stars to have maximum input into the film, to the
unusual point of involving them in the editing pro
cess. Short declares himself "pleased, more
than pleased, delighted with the result" which
was co-written by Michaels, Steve Martin and
Randy Newman. Yes, that Randy Newman.
"He's [Randy Newman] a very funny guy,"
says Short affably. "Well, you would expect that
from his lyrics, but you never know. He's also
written three songs for the film, and it was a kick
recording them with Randy."
Music, in fact, is Short's secret love. Though
circumstances have brought him success on TV,

and now in films, he feels "there's a theatrical
nature to me. I did nothing but stage work for
seven years in Canada when I started my career,
and those are still the hours that I'm comfortable
with. I'm fresh at night. I like to work in a show,
then go out to a restaurant, have a beer, get
home at 2 a.m. and sleep late the next day. The
basic actor's life.
"And I love musicals. To me, the idea of doing
a brilliant new Stephen Sondheim musical in
New York would be . .. that would be it!" *
Mike Bygrave is a free-lance journalist who
writes about Hollywood for several British publi-
cations.

(Top left) Martin Short goes Mexican as
Ned Nederlander, a silent film star up to his
ears in adventure south of the border. With
his two screen buddies (below and bottom
left), played by Steve Martin and Chevy
Chase, he ends up recruited to save a small
village from banditos.

Dec 12-THE MOSQUITO COAST Harrison
Ford and director Peter Weir follow their suc-
cessful pairing on Witness with this adaptation
of the best-selling novel by Paul Theroux. Ford
plays an idealist who moves his family from their
Massachusetts farm to the jungles of Central
America when he becomes disenchanted with
modern life. What he encounters is not exactly
the utopia he had hoped for.
Dec. 12-THE THREE AMIGOS Steve Mar-
tin, Chevy Chase and Martin Short-which
should be enough combined talent to make just
about anything seem funny-play a trio of un-
suspecting gringos who end up defending a
Mexican village against evil bandits. It was writ-
ten by Martin and Randy Newman, who also
wrote the movie's songs and music.
Dec. 12-HEARTBREAK RIDGE Clint
Eastwood plays a Marine sergeant whose career
and personal life are traced from Korea to the
present. You want to bet he's going to be one of
the toughest Marines ever to set foot on Earth?
Eastwood's rather unlikely co-star is Marsha Ma-
son, who plays his long-suffering ex-wife.

Harrison Ford tries to escape civilization
only to discovera whole new world of prob-
lems on The Mosquito Coast.
Dec. 19-LADY AND THE TRAMP You
want to feel really silly? Go see this classic ro-
mance from the Disney Studios. The part about
feeling silly will come when you realize you're
weeping over a cartoon about two dogs. Oh
well, the lights are dim ina theater, so go ahead.
Cry your eyes out.

Eddie Murphy sets out to rescue a kid-
napped "holy child" in The Golden Child.

Dec. 12-STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE Dec. 19-KING KONG LIVES Good grief, you
HOME The last time we checked, Spock was mean he's not dead yet? Not only is he alive, but
back among the living, but the Enterprise was he's in love. But this time the big guy is in love

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