Max Von Sydow

Paul Kohner, agent to such legendary stars as Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich and Erich von Stroheim, died Wednesday night at UCLA Medical Center after a long illness. He was 85. Kohner, a native of what is now Czechoslovakia, came to the United States in 1920 and found work as an office boy at Universal Pictures, where he rose to producer of such films as the silent version of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and "The Phantom of the Opera." He established the Paul Kohner Agency in 1938.

The last thing you expect from a movie about a man who can't move any part of his body save for his left eyelid is for it to be expansive, gorgeous and uplifting, but that's exactly what Julian Schnabel's remarkable "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" turns out to be.

It was the toast of a divided Cannes Film Festival jury, the Palme d'Or winner--but the Danish-Swedish film "Pelle the Conqueror" still doesn't have an American distributor. Reports from the festival and film market as it closed down Monday and Tuesday were that the distribution rights for the United States and Canada for "Pelle" were being pursued vigorously by various specialized-film distributors. But so far no company has nailed down a deal.

Following are the results of a poll of 125 motion picture theater owners, who filled out Oscar ballots Wednesday at the ShoWest convention in Las Vegas. They were asked to vote for the nominees they think will win, not the films or individuals they hope will win. Best Picture: 1. "Rain Man," (113 votes); 2. "Mississippi Burning," (14); 3. "Accidental Tourist," (4); 4. "Dangerous Liasons," (3); 5. "Working Girl" (1). Best Director: 1. Barry Levinson, "Rain Man," (88); 2.