MOVIES - Feb. 10, 1987

Tri-Star Pictures intends to appeal the X rating given to Alan Parker’s “Angel Heart� by the ratings board of the Motion Picture Assn. of America. The occult thriller based on William Hjortsberg’s sex-filled and violent novel “Falling Angel,� stars Robert De Niro and Mickey Rourke as a client and a private eye who follow the trail of a missing big-band singer into 1950s New Orleans. A ratings board spokesman declined to say Monday why “Angel Heart� was given an X, which is regarded as the commercial kiss of death by film distributors, and said that any appeal would be heard by a board in New York. “Angel Heart,� which co-stars Lisa Bonet from the hit TV series “The Cosby Show,� is scheduled for national release March 6.