May 1, 1992

FOR many people, Frank Capra will always be Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and Clarence the Angel rolled into one, the director who can make grown men cry at "It's a Wonderful Life" and political cynics cheer at "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." I'm more partial to an earlier Capra scene, in which Barbara Stanwyck jumps off a yacht in the wee morning hours, rows to shore wearing her evening dress, and is chivalrously given a ride by a man who will turn out to be rich (Ralph Graves). As they drive along the dark road, she says, "Hey, you don't happen to tote a flask, do you?" As if it weren't enough to defy Prohibition in this 1930 film, its title, "Ladies of Leisure," suggests a deeper shade of disreputable conduct. Stanwyck eventually explains her less than brilliant career: "Well, brother, that's my racket. I'm a party girl." We're a long way from Bedford Falls here, and some of us say "Thank goodness." As a film, there is plenty wrong with "Ladies of Leisure," including the kind of contrived, goody-goody ending Capra could never resist. But until the call girl and the rich, artistic hero decide to live happily ever after, this film has a refreshing toughness, a sardonic edge and a sense of grown-up sexuality. Those qualities are the very opposite of the homespun virtues that dominate his films in the late 1930's and 40's, and cause his work to be described as Capracorn.

NEW YORK CITY H.I.V. ON THE RISE AMONG BLACK WOMEN The rate of H.I.V. infection has risen among black women having babies in New York City, while it has dropped sharply among white and Hispanic mothers, the State Health Department said. The finding prompted a health official to warn that unless AIDS education efforts among blacks are more successful, "AIDS in future generations may be primarily a disease of black people." B3. SIGNS OF AN ECONOMIC TURNAROUND The financial vise that has been gripping many New York City companies may finally be easing, according to recent data collected by Dun & Bradstreet Information Services. The data provide new evidence that the local economy may be improving, and, surprisingly, at a faster rate than the rest of the nation. B3. CUOMO'S MAN FROM LIMERICK

The disappearance of the president of Exxon International, Sidney J. Reso, remained a mystery today and authorities refused to discuss the status of their investigation. Throughout the day, there was a flurry of activity outside the house of Mr. Reso, who left for work at 7:30 A.M. Wednesday but never arrived at his office in Florham Park, a 15-to-20-minute drive from here. His car was found facing the road at the foot of the 250-foot driveway, the engine idling and the driver's door open.

How does a man who has held elective office for nearly 27 years win when women are in and incumbents are out? That formidable challenge facing Robert Abrams, New York State's Attorney General, illustrates how national trends are shaping the race for the Democratic Senate nomination in New York. Yet the state's quirky dynamics may also skew the political equation that produced a stunning surge by women in Democratic primaries for the Senate in Illinois and Pennsylvania.

Takashi Tanji knows a thing or two about exports. As a child in Japan during the 1950's, he recalled, the essence of elementary-school economics was that Japan must export to survive. After graduating from college, he joined the Kanematsu Corporation, a big trading house, where he spent most of the next 25 years selling Japanese steel abroad. For the foot soldiers in Japan's export-led economic miracle, like Mr. Tanji, the work was often hard and humbling. He remembers trying to sell steel pipe to oil-patch suppliers in Texas and Louisiana in the 1970's, staying in cheap hotels, scouring the Yellow Pages for prospective customers, and making cold calls with decidedly mixed results.