Shore Comedy Opens At No. 6

Facing strong competition from the Tom Clancy front, even a freshly shorn Pauly Shore couldn’t make much of an impact on last week’s box-office scene.

In its second week, Philip Noyce’s adaptation of novelist Clancy’s political thriller “Clear and Present Danger” stayed atop the box office list with a $16 million gross, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Five places back, perched at No. 6, Shore’s comic look at the Gulf War, “In the Army Now,” earned just $6.4 million.

Rounding up the remaining usual suspects, “Forrest Gump” continued to play strongly. Strong at No. 2, the Robert Zemeckis comedy-drama starring Tom Hanks earned $14.1 million. After just six weeks, “Gump” has grossed a whopping $188.1 million.

And another strong performer, Jim Carrey’s second starring vehicle, “The Mask,” earned $10 million, good enough for the No. 3 spot and a three-week total of $70.1 million.

At the other end of the scale, animal stories have not fared well this summer. “Black Beauty” turned up lame with a No. 19 finish, its $291,000 take bringing its threeweek total to just $3.6 million.

And “Lassie”? Well, Gramps may just have to stay pinned under the tractor since $286,000 (and a four-week total of, whoa, $9.1 million) doesn’t buy much more than a No. 20 spot. Talk about needing first aid.