November 1, 1981

Two major weapons proposed by President Reagan, the MX missile in hardened silos and the B-1 bomber, are in jeopardy in Congress, according to Congressional, Reagan Administration and defense industry officials. At the same time, high-ranking Administration officials say that because of budgetary pressures, the Administration would not be averse to having the weapons proposals trimmed back. The fundamental reason both weapons are under close Congressional scrutiny is that they are expensive and are interim solutions, the officials said. Influential Senators and members of the House have asked with increasing insistence why huge sums should be spent in a time of fiscal austerity when better and longer-range solutions are in sight.

Near the beginning of Ronald Harwood's new play ''The Dresser,'' a small crisis erupts between an aging actor played by Paul Rogers, and his valet, a fussy young man played by Tom Courtenay. Ill, distracted, and weary of performing, night after night, year after year, the old actor, who is referred to only as ''Sir,'' is reluctant to go on stage again. It is England in January of 1942, and outside the theater, the distant rumblings of German air-raids are heard. ''What play is it tonight?'' the actor absent-mindedly asks, wondering which of his repertory of roles he is to perform. '' 'King Lear,' Sir,'' says his valet. Sir, who regards that play as ''the severest test known to an actor,'' reacts to the information with something approaching horror. His response is a single word - ''Impossible.'' Sir, of course, eventually does go on, and as ''The Dresser'' - which opens Thursday at the Brooks Atkinson Theater - proceeds to its end, the fictional actor's production also progresses to its sad and terrible conclusion. Shakespeare's famous tragedy, however, is not just another play within a play; rather, it serves, as Mr. Harwood points out, as a kind of ''mirror image'' of his own drama.

SOMERS IN these bucolic northern Westchester precincts, where the oaks and maples are losing their multicolored mantles and frost may cover unharvested pumpkins, deer will have to exercise more than their usual caution starting this morning. The archery hunting season opened at sunrise. By sunset, hundreds of archers will have taken to the fields and woods hoping to bring home a trophy. Most of them will not. Capturing a deer with a bow and arrow is difficult.

DESPITE public-opinion surveys showing that voters are having a difficult time clearly separating the major-party candidates for Governor, an unusually large turnout is expected at the polls on Tuesday. In addition to electing a Governor, voters will decide contests for all 120 seats in the State Senate and Assembly, as well as for county and municipal offices. And eight public questions - three bond issues, three constitutional amendments and two referendums - also will be decided. Donald Lan, the Secretary of State, said last week that the active primary-election contests in both parties last June had inspired increased voter registration, and that this had continued through the summer.

Certain exhibitions, while not especially noteworthy for the quality of the objects they contain, are nonetheless interesting for the way they illuminate the contemporary cultural scene. The show called ''An American Perspective,'' which is currently on view at the National Gallery of Art (through Jan. 31), is an event of this sort. It is not an exhibition of much interest, frankly, to anyone on the lookout for a vivid or transcendent esthetic experience. The art in it - 100 examples of 19th-century American painting, drawing and sculpture from the collection of Jo Ann and Julian Ganz Jr. - is mostly pretty dull. But as evidence of the runaway boom that has lately elevated even the most modest accomplishments of 19th-century American art to a position of unprecedented prominence, the show has an important story to tell. It may even be that ''An American Perspective,'' which will travel to museums in Fort Worth and Los Angeles after it closes in Washington, will mark a turning point in the way we come to terms with our national artistic heritage. Certainly it is hard to believe that the rampant overvaluation of certain aspects of American art can go much further than this without collapsing into a comedy of sizable dimensions.