For a brief moment this summer, Baltimore filmgoers may have thought they were seeing things. The Charles Theatre, the venerable art house that had recently added four screens, was playing such big studio movies as "Summer of Sam," "South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut" and "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me."

Meanwhile, the 17-screen General Cinema megaplex in Owings Mills was showing "Limbo," the latest low-budget feature from independent filmmaker John Sayles.

Was there something wrong with this picture?

Not really. Since the arrival of the expanded and renovated Charles, as well as new multiscreen complexes like that in Owings Mills, the tectonics of Baltimore's art-house terrain have shifted. Most observers agree that the changes bode well for filmgoers, who will have more films to see and more comfortable and attractive theaters in which to see them.

For the Charles, playing "Austin Powers" was part of an experiment that started in April, when the theater unveiled its new addition during the Maryland Film Festival. Crowds were strong that week, then dropped off precipitously, according to Charles co-owner John Standiford.

Just as the festival ended, Standiford created a film calendar on which repertory classics, contemporary cult films and experimental works were scheduled. Reaction to the calendar was uneven: Krzystof Kieslowski's "Dekalog" series was a hit, whereas a program of noir films from the Universal archive bombed. Then suddenly, titles like "8 1/2 " and "Touch of Evil" gave way to "Austin Powers," "South Park," "Summer of Sam" and "Eyes Wide Shut" -- not exactly struggling-art-house fare.

According to George Mansour, who books the Charles as well as 15 other art houses along the East Coast, the move was made to find a new audience for the theater and to develop relationships with major studios whose films heretofore hadn't played the Charles.

"We're trying to strike a sort of balance [between] playing some of the Hollywood films that are acceptable," Mansour explained. "The only one I felt was really off our line was 'Austin Powers.' But 'Summer of Sam,' good or bad it's a Spike Lee movie, and 'South Park' had a certain cachet."

Both Standiford and Mansour consider "Austin Powers" a mistake. "We were really looking to get as many people into the theater as possible," Mansour explained, "so we thought [the movie] had a certain something we could justify." The movie, which was geared toward filmgoers much younger than the Charles' usual core audience, played there for only four weeks.

But Mansour emphasized that by playing major movies and generating respectable box-office grosses, the Charles' ability to get choice bookings down the road is enhanced.

"There are films that go into nine places that are good and interesting," he explained. "You have to look at each film individually."

'Witch' success

But even such high-profile bookings as the new Spike Lee and Stanley Kubrick turned out to be piddling compared with the Charles' biggest success of the summer. When a little $35,000 movie called "The Blair Witch Project" opened for an exclusive two-week run at the Charles on July 16, the theater turned a corner. The film grossed $81,000 the first week, more than tripling the theater's house record; the following week, "The Blair Witch Project," which had generated enormous buzz on the Internet and had local appeal because it was filmed in Maryland, grossed $100,000 at the theater.

For two weeks straight, lines in front of the Charles snaked around the corner, the block between Lafayette and Lanvale streets was abuzz from noon until after midnight, and Standiford was forced to add weekday matinees, which quickly sold out along with the evening engagements.

Even though the theater only retained a percentage of the box- office receipts (Artisan Entertainment, the movie's distributor, keeps most of the money), what the theater made in concession sales, and the fact that a new, younger audience was introduced to a theater that had heretofore catered to older filmgoers, made "Blair Witch" a pivotal development for the theater.

"I think it's going to be our turning point," Mansour said. "It really put [the theater] on the map. Now we've got to restrain ourselves. We've got to keep the image of what we want to project, which is essentially art films and independent films, but also keep a mixture of interesting or offbeat Hollywood films that may be going wide or may not be going wide."

Steve Rothenberg, executive vice president of distribution for Artisan, agreed that the Charles' performance this summer has heightened its profile in the film world. "When a theater like the Charles grosses $81,000 the first week and $100,000 the second week, more than tripling house records since it's been in existence, it [should] prove to distributors that the Charles after the renovation is truly a specialized theater to be reckoned with," he said.

Standiford assures Charles aficionados that even with the big-studio bookings and "Blair Witch"-type hype, the theater hasn't lost touch with its roots. He said he will start the calendar again in September. And he will continue to book "the Charles-type art films as they have been defined through the years." (This week's lineup includes "Blair Witch," the mainstream "Thomas Crown Affair," the documentary "Buena Vista Social Club," "Eyes Wide Shut" and "The King of Masks," a relatively obscure Chinese film.)

'Limbo' in Owings Mills

While the Charles was doing land-office business thanks to the sleeper hit of the summer, something of a dark horse was emerging in Owings Mills, where the General Cinema played films like "The Red Violin" and John Sayles' "Limbo," a film that by all rights would otherwise have played the Charles. In fact, Mansour said, he "called and begged and cried" to get "Limbo," but the film's distributor "told us [to] forget it."

"Limbo" played at the Owings Mills theater for only three weeks, suggesting that Sony Pictures, the film's distributor and a company more accustomed to releasing mainstream pictures, badly miscalculated the film's audience.

But Janet Spitz, Sony's mid- Atlantic district manager, insists that Owings Mills was not a mistake. The studio went with the suburban theater for a couple of reasons, she said. "First, the Charles was just newly expanded. So when we were first looking at the distribution plan for 'Limbo' we didn't know exactly when they would be finished."

In addition, Spitz said, the studio was impressed with Owings Mills' track record. She noted that the theater had had successful runs with "Waking Ned Devine," "Hurlyburly," "Life is Beautiful" and "Elizabeth."

In many cases, art films are showing up in suburban theaters because they simply have the screens and need the product. Such was the case with "The Red Violin," which opened exclusively for a week at the Charles before moving to Owings Mills. "A minor glut of screens in the zone made it possible for more art films to play," explained Tom Ortenberg, co- president of Lions Gate Releasing, the movie's distributor.

Ortenberg added that the run turned out to be surprisingly successful, suggesting that "art film can play well in the entire Baltimore area, not just downtown, and that the entire Baltimore area should not have to go to the Charles or the Rotunda just to see a specialized film."

Still, Ortenberg noted, Lions Gate will always open its films at an art house first, then expand to a suburban theater if the movie warrants it. "We always need the core art house run to give the film some street credibility, some indie credibility," Ortenberg continued.

Rotunda chugging along

If Owings Mills is the dark horse in Baltimore's art house stable, then the Rotunda, the two-screen theater in the Rotunda shopping center, is the old gray mare. With its tattered lobby, squeaky, uncomfortable seats and uneven projection quality, the 26-year-old theater has proven to be a bane to serious movie lovers but a boon to film- goers who appreciate its convenience, safety and surfeit of parking.

Indeed, when the Charles re-opened, rumors immediately circulated that the Rotunda was closing. Loews Cineplex Entertainment, which owns the Rotunda, insists that the theater's lease will be renewed. And the Rotunda clearly still has power when it comes to bookings: Both "An Ideal Husband" and "Run Lola Run" have enjoyed decent runs at the theater.

Still, many filmgoers who love the movies the Rotunda plays but hate the environs may be forgiven for wishing that the Charles give the Rotunda a run for its money, resulting in a renovation and refurbishing, if not out-and-out closure. Loews Cineplex spokesman Marc Pascucci said, "I don't know of any plans for renovation at this time," but he added that plans may be instated "if there are significant problems with the physical plant."

"When the rumors that we were closing started, we got all these letters saying 'Don't close it,' " Pascucci recalled. "I forwarded all those letters around here to confirm that what we're doing as far as renewing the lease was the right thing to do."

Those filmgoers who were hoping that the new Charles would force the Rotunda to clean up its act may want to take the hint and organize a letter-writing campaign of their own. (The Loews Cineplex regional office is at 8141 Honeygo Blvd., Baltimore, Md. 21236.)