FRIDAY

9:00 p.m.--The Subject Was Roses. Frank D. Gilroy wrote this Pulitzer Prize-winning drama of a young man returning from the war to a not so joyous homecoming. Jack Albertson won a Tony award for his role as the father who shares a new rapport with his returned son, played by Martin Sheen. Patricia Neal is the wife and mother who realizes the tragic and painful truths brought to the surface by her son's arrival. An excellent drama with its highly honored cast intact. Channel 4.

11:00 p.m.--The Devil's Eye. Bergman just can't be thinking those incredibly heavy thoughts all the time, and in this film he just has a lot of fun. Bergman directs Satan to send Don Juan back to the mortal world on the not unpleasant mission of seducing Bibi Andersson, to the delight of earthly and subterranean audiences alike. Channel 38.

11:30 p.m.--Sunset Boulevard. Billy Wilder utilized his detailed knowledge of Hollywood decadence in writing the Oscar-winning screenplay to an all-that-glitters-is-not-sequins sunset city epic. William Holden gurgles the narration from his face down predicament in Gloria Swanson's swimming pool, but after the devastingly effective shot of Miss Swanson descending the spiral staircase, it is understandable why he chose to watch the action from that vantage point. One gets the feeling that only those who have seen this peculiar type of behavior will appreciate it, and maybe even they wouldn't. Channel 7.

11:30--Ship of Fools. Although the shoe fits, this is neither the story of U.S.S. Pueblo nor a rowboat full of Stanley Kramer devotees. A brilliant cast including Simone Signoret, Oskar Werner, Vivien Leigh, and the diminutive Michael Dunn nearly succeed in saving the sinking vessel, but there are too many of them and Kramer does not know how to keep them out of each other's way. Dunn's last scene is a masterpiece of monologue, and only this effort keeps both cast and audience from leaning over the side in unison. Channel 12.

SATURDAY

11:15 p.m.--Little Ceaser. Edward G. Robinson's Rico Bandello gave rise to an entire generation of gangsters, thugs, and hoodlums, but none was ever superior to the original. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., is the handsome protagonist, Channel 9.

SUNDAY

3:00 p.m.--The Singing Cowboy. Bury me not in the vast wasteland. Another true original, circa 1936, with Gene Autry crooning his way across the prairies and valleys with the greatest of ease. Channel 10.

4:00 p.m.--Rebel Without A Cause. James Dean rose to instant stardom as the troubled teenaged Jim Stark, a young man who has to learn to "choose your own friends; don't let them choose you." Nicholas Ray's talent is evident, but the script has some appalling weaknesses that even Dean's mumbling can't obscure. The film affected an entire generation, not to mention a generation of cinema, and Dean became a cult hero overnight. His talent is both marvelous and overwhelming, and the supporting cast is understated enough not to cramp his style. Natalie Wood, Jim Backus, Sal Mineo, Edward "Chief" Platt, and William "Paul Drake" Hopper all perform creditably in Dean's all-encompassing shadow. Even if you have seen this film four times before, see it again, for one reason: in the scene where Dean and Natalie Wood are at the old house for the first time, he does an unbelievably good imitation of Mr. Magoo which I didn't catch until the fifth time I saw it. Channel 10.

10:00 p.m.--Point of Order. The classic American documentary by Emile De Antonio. Joseph McCarthy turns in a very convincing performance as an alcoholic, red-baiting senator who has succeeded in terrifying the entire country. Joseph N. Welch is not quite as good as Spencer Tracy would have been in the role of the New England lawyer who puts an end to the foolishness ("Senator, at long last, have you no shame?"), but Tracy wanted too much money. Cameo performances by Robert F. Kennedy, Roy Cohn, and G. David Schine (who grew up to be executive producer of The French Connection and make a zillion bucks), add sparkle to an otherwise dull cast. Channel 2.