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'Cat in the Hat' at No. 1 by a whisker

LOS ANGELES - Cat in the Hat came back to narrowly beat Eddie Murphy at the box office over a Thanksgiving weekend dominated by family flicks.

Dr. Seuss' the Cat in the Hat earned $25.6-million from Friday to Sunday to finish as the No. 1 movie, a whisker ahead of Murphy's spooky comedy The Haunted Mansion.

The 10-day total for The Cat in the Hat, starring Mike Myers as the mischievous feline, hit $77-million. The Haunted Mansion earned $25.3-million, and has grossed $35-million since its debut Wednesday.

Will Ferrell's Elf held up well with $22.2-million, lifting its four-week sum to $130.1-million. Elf became the 24th movie in 2003 to top $100-million, tying last year's record of 24 films over that mark.

In initial box office reporting early Sunday, The Haunted Mansion had the top spot, but Universal revised its numbers upward to put The Cat in the Hat in the lead. Rankings could change again when final numbers are reported Monday.

Universal spokesman Jeffrey Sackson said a company publicist had released incorrect weekend numbers early Sunday. The company called reporters to correct the error once it was discovered, he said.

SANTA FE, N.M. - Screenwriter Edmund L. Hartmann, who wrote zany comedies for Bob Hope, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis and the Three Stooges, died at his home in Santa Fe. He was 92.

Mr. Hartmann, who died Friday, Nov. 28, 2003, also wrote comedies for Abbott and Costello and Lucille Ball, and penned film noir mysteries in his more than 60-year career.

He once said: "I think the unexpected is the key to comedy," the Santa Fe New Mexican reported in Sunday's editions. "You can either do it or you can't. It can't be taught."

His Bob Hope scripts were for Paleface (1948), Sorrowful Jones (1949), Fancy Pants (1950) and The Lemon Drop Kid (1951). He wrote The Caddy in 1953 for Martin and Lewis.

As a television writer-producer, Mr. Hartmann produced My Three Sons for Fred MacMurray, and created Henry Fonda's The Smith Family.