Summer Movie Preview: July

IN THE LINE OF FIRE
Starring Clint Eastwood, John Malkovich, Rene Russo. Directed by Wolfgang Petersen.

Playing a Secret Service agent emotionally scarred by President Kennedy's assassination, Eastwood gets a chance at redemption 30 years later when assassin Malkovich goes after the new President (no resemblance to the current White House occupant). Shot in Washington, D.C., and L.A. with the full cooperation of the Secret Service, Fire doesn't exactly sound like a movie loaded with female appeal. But according to director Petersen (Das Boot), that's exactly what it is, thanks to abundant dry humor, Eastwood's boyish charm, and Russo as Clint's take-no-prisoners partner. ''Their relationship is adult and very playful,'' Petersen says. ''She always gives back nasty remarks.'' Russo says she wrote one such retort herself: When Frank Horrigan (Eastwood) greets her with the patronizing comment ''Secretaries get prettier and prettier,'' she snaps back, ''Yeah, and field agents get older and older.''

''There's tension and drama, but basically Clint makes fun of himself and his age the whole time,'' Petersen says. But Eastwood's most surprising moments in the film may be the serious ones. Filming one particularly heavy scene, in which a guilt-ridden Horrigan recalls his failure to save Kennedy, the actor became distraught, so unhinging Russo that she joined in for some unscripted tears: ''I've seen Clint vulnerable, but this is pretty exciting stuff,'' she says. (July 9)

Buzz: He shoots! He scores!

ROBIN HOOD: MEN IN TIGHTS
Starring Cary Elwes, Amy Yasbeck, Richard Lewis, Roger Rees, Tracey Ullman. Directed by Mel Brooks.

When Brooks saw Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves two summers ago, his parody alert sounded. Soon after, his dentist's son suggested a send-up of the Merry Men, and the picture, which the director-producer describes as ''a lot like Blazing Saddles,'' was off and trotting. Expect plenty of arrows aimed at both the recent remake and the 1938 version—and, Brooks says, some painfully funny scenes: ''In one, Cary does a great Errol Flynn and slides down a wooden banister with his sword out. But poor Cary-he got, like, a hundred splinters in his ass, and we had to stop and take every one of them out.'' Sherwood be a tough way to make a living. (July 28)

Buzz: Fox is hoping this could be Hot Shots! Part Trois, but Brooks' recent track record (Spaceballs, Life Stinks) does not inspire optimism.

FOR LOVE OR MONEY
Starring Michael J. Fox, Gabrielle Anwar, Anthony Higgins, Michael Tucker. Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld.

In this Manhattan-flavored romantic comedy, Fox plays a hotel concierge struggling to make his way in the big city. To reach the top, he first has to suck up to a wealthy but sleazy entrepreneur (Higgins) who claims he'll bankroll Fox so he can open his own hotel. His sucking-up duties include ''babysitting'' Higgins' mistreated mistress (Anwar, the British beauty whose last tango in New York was with Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman).

''A lot of people say, 'Sure, (he does comedies) because Casualties of War didn't make any money,'' says Fox, 31. ''But I'm having a real good time doing comedy.'' So much so that he's about to do two more-after acting in the farce Greed, he'll direct his first feature, Thirty Wishes, a comedy about—you guessed it—turning 30. (July 23)

Buzz: Hotel comedies aren't exactly guaranteed laugh getters (anyone remember Blame It on the Bellboy?), but never underestimate the popularity of Fox as a struggling yuppie.