STAGE

The Bacchae--A triumph for the Charles Playhouse and all concerned. Director Timothy S. Mayer has updated Euripides' play in translation and costumes, invested it with modern music, and staged it almost vertically. The devices are amazingly consistent with one another, also with the interpretation, and most of all with the play. The cast is fine. At the CHARLES, 76 Warrenton (542-3325).

Benito Cereno--The Robert Lowell play in yet another production. At the LOEB EXPERIMENTAL THEATRE.

Brecht on Brecht--A revue of sorts built around the plays, songs and other writings of The Man. At the THEATRE COMPANY OF BOSTON, 136 Mass. Ave. (426-6609).

The Children's Hour--Lillian Hellman tells a strange story. At the BU THEATRE, Comm. Ave. (353-3392).

Dear World--A dull musical with nothing to recommend it except the beautiful Angela Lansbury. Jerry Herman wrote the unhelpful score. Pre-Broadway tryout at the COLONIAL.

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying--An unabashedly artless production of the Frank Loesser musical. Ideal football weekend entertainment. At AGASSIZ THEATRE (354-9175).

The Imaginary Invalid--A production of the Moliere play that, if nothing else, entertains. At DUNSTER HOUSE.

Iolanthe--Gilbert & Sullivan in the house where Julian Beck once dwelled. At KRESGE AUDITORIUM, M.I.T. (864-6900, ext. 2910).

The Measures Taken -- Brecht. At the HARVARD EPWORTH CHURCH, 1555 Mass. Ave. (491-9579).

Oh, What a Lovely War--In which World War I turns out not to be so lovely after all. At TUFTS ARENA THEATRE (628-5000, ext. 318).

The Promise--Reviewed on page 2. At the LOEB (UN 4-2630).

The Proposition--Local satirical revue. At 241 Hampshire St., Inman Square, Cambridge.

Riot!--Some living theatre of sorts stopping here on its way to Off-Broadway. At the FIRST PARISH CHURCH, Harvard Square (262-6611).

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown -- Which somehow works. At the WILBUR (426-9366).

The Zoo Story & Krapp's Last Tape-- Albee, Beckett, three actors and a tape recorder. At the ATMA 496 Tremont (338-9791).

SCREEN

Ashes and Diamonds--Andrzej Wajda's fine film about life and death in postwar Poland. At the BRATTLE (876-4226).

The Bank Dick--He's W. C. Fields. At the SYMPHONY I, 262 Huntington (262-8820).

Barbarella--Roger Vadim's very public salute to Jane Fonda; more or less what you'd expect. At the CIRCLE, Cleveland Circle, Brookline (566-4040).

Bedazzled--Stanley Donen off his stride, trying to pump comic life into the Faust legend. A movie with sparse laughs and nothing to say. At the ESQUIRE, Mass. Ave. on the Boston side of Harvard Square (491-7730).

The Boston Strangler--Believe your worst suspicions. At the MUSIC HALL, Tremont St. near Stuart (423-3300).

Camelot--An overblown adaptation of the Lerner & Lowe musical, with Richard Harris and Vanessa Redgrave. But swell music. At the FRESH POND in Fresh Pond, Cambridge (547-8800).

The Charge of the Light Brigade--A movie which argues that mid-Victorian England was a pretty inhuman place, revealing that quality most clearly in its incredibly stupid wars. Not as exciting as the book (Cecil Woodham-Smith's The Reason Why), but for those who like their wars with lots of gory realism and facile satire, may make enjoyable viewing. At the CHERI 3, Dalton St. in Prudential Center (536-2870).

The Family Way--A number of good actors badly directed in a foolish, one-size-too-large story of young marriage. Hayley Mills, John Mills and the Gang. At SYMPHONY I, 262 Huntington (272-8837).

Fanny Hill--There for the taking. At the CENTER, 686 Washington St. (426-0889).

55 Days at Peking--The Boxer Rebellion filmed in Spain with Dame Flora Robson as a wily Chinese, and Charlton Heston and the never-to-be-sufficiently studied Ava Gardner as doomed lovers. Nicholas Ray's last film is neither up to scratch nor all his (second-unit director Andrew Marton took over when Ray fell ill); but anything by the director of Rebel Wihtout a Cause, Party Girl, and Johnny Guitar is top-notch film-making by anyone's standards. At CARPENTER CENTER, Sunday.

Darling--Julie Christie in black and white. At the HARVARD SQUARE (864-4580).

Finian's Rainbow--A heavyhanded, poorly acted film version of the musical, with nothing but the splendid score and the magnificent Fred Astaire to recommend it. The director, Francis Fred Coppola, has a bad habit of chopping people's Lands and feet off; stars Petula Clark and Tommy Steele ought to act their age. At the SAXON, Tremont and Stuart (542-4600).

Firemen's Ball and Oratorio for Prague--Two first rate, if lightweight, Czech films which run amuck. In Milos (Loves of a Blonde) Forman's comedy, the dramatic action edges toward the consequential and finally becomes downright grisly, with no let-up in the constant low-key joking. In Jan Nemec's documentary, reality gets out of hand as the appearance of Russian tanks drastically alter what had been intended as a cheerful film about the liberalized Dubcek regime. At the EXETER, Exeter St. between Commonwealth & Newbury (536-7067).

Funny Girl--If you like Barbra Streisand, there is no getting around the fact that this movie works. The score, the screenplay, and even Omar Sharif are fine. The photography, on the other hand, is unfortunate, as is the editing. At the CHERI 2, Dalton St. in Prudential Center (536-2870).

Great Catherine--Claims to be derived from Bernard Shaw's obscure one-actor, with Jeanne Moreau, Peter O'Toole, Zero Mostel. At the CHERI I Dalton St. in Prudential Center (536-2870).

Head--The Monkees "star" in a tediously authentic paranoid freak-out stupidly filmed in living Technicolor. Your first inclination might be to go stoned, but don't take the chance. At the WEST END, North Staton (523-4050).

Hot Millions--Peter Ustinov and Maggie Smith are just fine in this gentle suspense-comedy written by Ustinov and Ira Wallach. At the ASTOR, Tremont St. near Boylston (512-5030).

King Kong--In which we learn that beauty killed the beast, not all those wooden airplanes buzzing the Empire State Building. Definitely one of your great gorilla pictures. At HILLES LIBRARY, tonight.

The Lion in Winter--Pretension unleashed, most notably that of Anthony Harvey, the director, who seems bent on doing everything as conspicuously as he can. Neither Peter O'Toole nor Katharine Hepburn gives much of a performance in this cumbersomely filmed version of James Goldman's play, which was unconvincing to start with. At the PARIS CINEMA, 841 Boylston (267-8181).

Mississippi--A Bing Crosby picture in which W. C. Fields gets to do some schtick. Shown with a Road Runner cartoon at 2 DIVINITY AVE., tonight.

Negatives--Glenda Jackson (Charlotte Corday in the Peter Brook Marat-Sade) is in it. At the CHARLES, 195 Cambridge (227-2832).

Never Give a Sucker an Even Break--One of W. C. Fields' best, with Margaret Dumont and a wild movie-within-the-movie. At SYMPHONY II, 262 Huntington (262-8820).

The Oldest Profession--Raquel Welch, Jeanne Moreau and Elsa Martinelli show what that is all about. At the CENTER, 686 Washington St. (426-0889).

Rachel, Rachel--An honest little movie, the first to be directed by Paul Newman, which gives Jeanne Moreau room to deliver a fine performance and carry the day. At the HARVARD SQUARE (864-4580) and SYMPHONY I, 262 Huntington (262-8820).

Romeo and Juliet--Although Franco Zeffirelli's teen-age treatment of Shake-speare's situation tragedy may be somewhat free-wheeling for all tastes, sentimentalists will eat up every second. Olivia Hussey's reading of Juliet proves a truly right interpretation of the part. At the ABBEY, 600 Commonwealth Ave. (262-1303).

Rosemary's Baby--Dangerously misdirected by Roman Polanski, irritatingly acted by Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes, shoddily filmed in grainly bleached-out color, vehemently hated by your friendly Crimson reviewer, but far-and-away the most popular film of the year. See for yourself. At the ESQUIRE, Mass. Ave. on the Boston side of Harvard Square (491-7730).

Shalako--Sean Connery and a heavily made-up Brigitte Bardot in a western which instinct tells us isn't much good. To be reviewed next week. At the PARAMOUNT, Washington St. across from Raymond's (482-4820).

Star--Despite wonderful music, ranging from Kurt Weill to Cole Porter, an aimless, fruitless movie. The theatrical history, however, is fun, and Julie Andrews and Daniel Massey are likewise as Gertrude Lawrence and Noel Coward. At the GARY , 131 Stuart (542-7040).

2001--Stanley Kubrick's epic of human advancement, externally motivated. The special effects must be seen, and can best be seen from the first five rows. At the CINERAMA, Washington Street near Essex (482-4515).

West Side Story--Much, much worse than the show. Badly dubbed and drippily sung, but funny in places. At the SAVOY, 163 Tremont (536-2120).

Whatever Hapepned to Baby Jane?-- Bette Davis and Joan Crawford play weird sisters in this debatably entertaining second-rate Robert Aldrich picture, marred by overly loud music and weak script construction. At M.I.T., Sunday night.

Yellow Submarine--A good cartoon about the Beatles not to be confused either with The Road Runner or Joyce's Ulysses. The drawing art, but the 85 minutes are provocative and occasionally moving. At the BEACON HILL, Tremont between Beacon St. & ovt. Center (227-6676).

You Are What You Eat--A tedious romp with Tiny Tim and friends that is much less fun than Beach Party. At the KEN-more, Kenmore Square (262-3799).

Young Girls of Rochefort -- Jacques (Lola, Umbrellas of Cherbourg) Demy's fabulous Cinemascope musical with a great Michel Legland score and the cast of the year: Catherine Deneuve and Francoise Dorleac pursued by Gene Kelly (looking a young 35) and Jacques Perrin, while Michel Piccoli and Danielle Darieux watch from the wings. The color photography radiates day-light and Demy steadfastly resists all but the joyful aspects of romance