Yankee Doodle

From the beginning, British-comedy fans loved the work of Peter Sellers for its wit and sure attack and for its fillip of emotion. But it took a brilliant young American director with a hip, cosmopolitan temperament to exploit Sellers' talent fully. For his 1962 movie version of Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita -- playing tomorrow at noon at the Charles Theatre -- Stanley Kubrick chose Sellers to play what could have been a subordinate role: not Humbert Humbert (James Mason), the French-literature professor obsessed by the title nymphet (Sue Lyon)

Music and history The War of 1812 resulted in the burning of the White House, but it also gave the world some of its most patriotic standards, the classic example being "Yankee Doodle." Listen and learn as Fort McHenry continues its concert series, "Where Music Meets History." Saturday's event examines the music of the British Empire and early American republic around 1812. Each show will have historic narration and a chance to meet re-enactors and musicians after their performance. The "Republic vs. Empire" concert is Saturday at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. The concert lasts 45 minutes and is at the parade ground of the original Star Fort at 2400 E. Fort Ave. Free with admission into the park.

NOW OR NEVER You're a movie buff. A film geek. A motion-picture aficionado, you like to say. Sure, you can recite lines from B movies (and, of course, the classics) with no effort at all. You know the names of the obscure extras. Can rattle off the names and years of Oscar winners with the speed and accuracy of Raymond in Rain Man, who certainly knew how to rattle off statistics. You're good, and you know it. And there's no place you'd rather be than at the "Lights! Camera! CLASSICS!" exhibit at The Mall in Columbia this weekend.

25 years agoAlthough one board member expressed disappointment over the result of the smoking policy in county high schools, the county school board decided to extend the policy until a more thorough study can be made. Early in the school year, in an attempt to keep bathrooms tidy and to protect environmental conditions for nonsmokers who must share bathrooms with smokers, the school board granted permission for students to smoke in certain designated areas outside the school. The board's decision to extend the policy was based on a report of the effectiveness of the policy and the belief that perhaps the relatively new policy hasn't been given a chance to work.

ALBERTVILLE, France -- So what's next for Kristi Yamaguchi?Should she turn pro? Should she remain a competitive skater? Should she do both?There are decisions to make for this new ice queen.Friday night, in the tensest, fiercest competition of the Winter Olympics, Yamaguchi became the first American woman to win the ladies' figure skating gold medal since Dorothy Hamill in 1976.Oh, she stumbled. But it doesn't really matter, now. She has the gold, a medal that may be worth millions."At this moment, I don't know what to expect," Yamaguchi said yesterday.

VIDEO'Grand Canyon'"Grand Canyon" is a little touchy-feely for some critics (including this mean one), but many people loved its evocation of regular folks trying to come to terms with the random violence and spiritual despair in modern-day L.A. Kevin Kline plays a lawyer who befriends tow-truck driver Danny Glover, and from this central relationship all sorts of interesting complications ensue. A snotty version of a big-time movie producer very much like Joel Silver, played with parvenu's relish by Steve Martin, doesn't help much.

Joan R. Kaltenbach, a former secretary and homemaker who was an avid Orioles fan, died Saturday of kidney failure at St. Joseph Medical Center. She was 87. Joan Rita Anderson was born and raised in Texas, Baltimore County. She was a 1938 graduate of Seton High School, where she played center for the girls basketball team. During the 1940s, she worked as a legal secretary in Towson. In the mid-1980s, she was the secretary to the headmaster of Loyola High School and a member of its administrative staff for about five years.

With his guitar in hand, Ray Owens can take you on a musical journey covering more than 200 years of American music.Students at Overlook Elementary School took that journey last Friday as Mr. Owens donned various costumes and entertained them with song."

Q: Can you tell me anything about actor James Cagney's paintings and if they are for sale? I'd love to add one to my collection.A: Cagney's works ranged from pinup girls to battered prizefighters, including an oil portrait Cagney called "The Winner." He also drew caricatures of his friends and the likenesses of wounded soldiers when he toured Army hospitals in Europe during World War II. An auction of some of Cagney's paintings and illustrations will be held Sept. 30 at William Doyle Galleries & Auctioneers, 175 E. 87th St., New York, N.Y. 10128.

Talking to David Vain can be a bit like learning another language. Words and phrases like shim-sham and shuffle off to Buffalo slip into his conversation with regularity. The terms, more quaint than cutting-edge, are used to describe the kinds of moves Vain uses in a dance form that is both quaint and cutting-edge itself: tap. Tomorrow, the 30-year-old native of the Lansdowne-Arbutus area, graduate of Baltimore School for the Arts and tap-dance teacher and performer will be joining other area tap enthusiasts in a celebration of National Tap Dance Day. The day is being marked in Baltimore for the first time, with an event organized by a local arts-advocacy group, Dance Baltimore!