Casualties Of War Movie

Dawn Steel pointed to the priceless framed "From Here to Eternity" poster that hangs above the leather sofa in her Burbank office. "There have been four regimes here in six years, " said the president of Columbia Pictures. "And almost nothing was saved. Our 70th anniversary is coming up--or is it our 75th?--and we are buying up memorabilia. I actually had to buy that poster." She shrugged. Dawn Steel understands purchase power--and executive shuffles.

"Hi. I've never acted before." Those were the first words 22-year-old Thuy Thu Le says she blurted to director Brian DePalma at a casting call last year for the film "Casualties of War." Le learned of the tryout--for a beautiful Vietnamese girl--from a "little tiny ad" posted in front of a Chinatown restaurant in Paris. "I never thought of acting, even when I answered the call," she said. "I just wanted to meet Brian DePalma. 'The Untouchables' is one of my favorite movies."

"Hi. I've never acted before." Those were the first words 22-year-old Thuy Thu Le says she blurted to director Brian DePalma at a casting call last year for the film "Casualties of War." Le learned of the tryout--for a beautiful Vietnamese girl--from a "little tiny ad" posted in front of a Chinatown restaurant in Paris. "I never thought of acting, even when I answered the call," she said. "I just wanted to meet Brian DePalma. 'The Untouchables' is one of my favorite movies."

Dawn Steel pointed to the priceless framed "From Here to Eternity" poster that hangs above the leather sofa in her Burbank office. "There have been four regimes here in six years, " said the president of Columbia Pictures. "And almost nothing was saved. Our 70th anniversary is coming up--or is it our 75th?--and we are buying up memorabilia. I actually had to buy that poster." She shrugged. Dawn Steel understands purchase power--and executive shuffles.