SYDNEY POLLACK DINES WITH DIRECTOR SYDNEY POLLACK

MEMPHIS -- Former Cape Girardeau steel-and-scrap-metal businessman Sydney Pollack met movie director Sydney Pollack for the first time last year while the latter was filming "The Firm" in Memphis.

They met because both were named for the same grandfather a Jewish tradition. They had different grandmothers and very different lives.

Sydney Pollack the director, who grew up in South Bend, Ind., has been behind the camera on such successful films as "Out of Africa," "Absence of Malice" and "Tootsie." He also appeared in Tootsie as Dustin Hoffman's agent.

Sydney Pollack the businessman grew up in Cape Girardeau and joined his father's business, Pollack Hide and Fur Co., after graduating from college in 1949. He remained with the business until it was sold in 1989.

He now lives in Memphis where he helps a son who operates two radio stations and a television station.

When he learned that his younger half-cousin was working on a film in Memphis, Pollack called him and they arranged to have dinner together.

"We had a lovely evening," Pollack said. "He was very personable."

Fortunately, he's a fan. "I particularly like his work," Pollack said, reeling off a list of titles.

Sydney Pollack of Memphis says he does not resemble Sydney Pollack of the movies. "But there is a Pollack trait," he said. "He looked like my father and youngest son."

Pollack went to one day of shooting, but wasn't really interested in the plodding reality of filmmaking.

He says the movie is "a big deal" in Memphis. Many Memphis landmarks are incorporated, including the Peabody Hotel and Mud Island.

The movie is based on the book of the same name by John Grisham, who lives near Memphis and is popular there.

Pollack was out of town and didn't attend the movie's premiere held recently in Memphis, but he plans to see it soon.

"The Firm," which stars Tom Cruise and Gene Hackman, opened Wednesday across the nation.