Tina Sinatra

Hollywood, like America, was on a Sinatra binge when the singer died Thursday night. Where bobby-soxers fueled the first wave 50-odd years ago, smitten with a toothpick-thin, big-band singer with a velvet voice, the current wave came from baby boomers and Generation X and Y, who were caught up in the nostalgia and coolness of Vegas, martinis, cigarettes, the Rat Pack and the allure of all things politically incorrect. Frankie-baby was the undisputed king of the pack.

John Gennari, from the University of Virginia, argued that the tough Dolly Sinatra, "a political ward-heeler, a saloonkeeper," should be seen in the context of "larger discourses of mother-bashing that pervade American culture." That way, we may gain an understanding of her son that "peels back his tough-guy disguise and reveals, ironically, a nurturing maternal figure." UCLA's James E.

Although the final strokes of paint were barely dry, the Christian Dior boutique debuted Wednesday night with a party featuring a dressed-up cast of 1,000 (by one count), including cameo appearances by Carrie Fisher, Sonia Braga and Mickey Rourke--he entered and exited in under a minute. The event marked the first of many more store openings to come (22, to be precise, from now through spring) in the Two Rodeo Drive complex and easily matched the delirium of any Hollywood premiere.

The ladies who lunch were missing Monday from their usual banquettes at the Bistro Garden and at Jimmy's. Instead, they filled tables in Merv Griffin's backyard, glittering in the pastoral setting with more diamonds and designer clothes than a Rodeo Drive boutique. Dozens of famous names and faces turned out--many of them managing to look good even in direct sunlight, away from the softly lit environs they usually glide through. The large turnout was "because we all love Eva.

Judging from the evidence, Frank Sinatra was definitely the Rat Pack's biggest pack rat. Hundreds of items from Sinatra's mind-boggling accumulation of photos, awards, an honorary police badge, a "key to the city" of Hoboken, N.J., letters and personal effects are on loan from his daughters, Nancy and Tina Sinatra, for an exhibit at USC's David L. Wolper Center for the Study of the Documentary, which is in the Doheny Memorial Library. (Nancy Sinatra's daughter Angela Jennifer is a USC alumna.

On Christmas Day, 1987, the 30-year-old Brooklyn-based filmmaker Spike Lee started working on the script for his third feature. His first, the 1986 surprise hit "She's Gotta Have It," was a trailblazing romantic comedy about young upscale African Americans, and his sophomore effort, "School Daze," a musical look at black college life, was in the can and set to be released two months later.

Pulp is powerful. The strength of sensational material joined to excellent acting, superior filmmaking and uncanny political relevance has made "The Manchurian Candidate" into exceptionally intelligent entertainment and a high point of director Jonathan Demme's career. While films with crackling plots often require that we cede some subtlety and emotional complexity, "Candidate" makes no such demands.

Claiming that sexual harassment is a pervasive problem in the Los Angeles Police Department, the ACLU filed a lawsuit this week on behalf of Alicia Robalino, a 911 emergency telephone operator who charges that she has been harassed and assaulted by a former boyfriend, Sgt. John Ortega of the LAPD's Hollenbeck division.

As usual, President Ronald Reagan will be around town later this month--but he won't be making his usual, almost-annual appearance at the annual state GOP fund-raising gala. Reagan turned down the request to be the centerpiece at the Aug. 24 Century Plaza event for the state Republican party--even though he'll be nearby at his Santa Barbara ranch vacationing. What's really rankling the local party faithful is that Reagan will make an appearance in L.A.