THE INDUSTRY THAT KEEPS ON GIVING : Is Hollywood getting cheap?

We checked around town and it looks like the traditional glut of gift-giving by industry big shots may be diminishing.

A talk-show producer said, “It does seem sparser this year.” Noted a film reporter, “The pile of junk on my desk is a lot sparser than usual.”

We did come across some generosity--or attempted bribery, depending on how you look at it--as studios gifted media, stars were nice to agents, producers were sweet to stars, et al. Like . . . those tie-racks from publicist Frank Lieberman Sr.; a gadget from Bob Hope that tells you the time in Kuwait; Orion’s wallets that double as alarm clocks; Marilyn McCoo’s Tiffany pens; Dolly Parton’s chocolates (in clear plastic Christmas trees); Paramount Home Video’s “White Christmas” video (in a stocking); Linda McCartney’s calendar of her own countryside photos--and the usual wine, cut glass and Fruit-of-the-Month Club memberships (TV producer Chuck Fries sent fruit baskets that “must weight at least 50 pounds,” according to a giftee).

And, of course, champagne: “You’d think they must be washing their cars in the stuff,” said a spokesman for Greenblatt’s Deli on Sunset Boulevard, which has been busy filling orders.

But the flood of merchandise has definitely slowed, say industry veterans. It may be part of a rising social conscience: There’s a noticeable increase in donations to charities in the name of recipients, like MGM/UA’s to Camp Ronald McDonald, PMK publicists’ to the Children’s Institute and the LA AIDS Project (which also was gifted by 20th Century Fox, along with the Starlight Foundation and the MPAA Country Home), and Columbia’s to United Friends of Children, the L.A. Department of Aging and the Salvation Harbor Lights Centre (although the studio’s also been sending out shiny desk sets).

Some, though, are mum on their shopping lists. “It’s not something we want to have in the press,” said Paramount. “No comment” from Fox.

And Frank Sinatra’s publicist, the usually loquacious Lee Solters, told us, “That’s a private matter--we’re only concerned about his career.”

But we found out that Ol’ Blue Eyes dispatched an autographed carafe with a bottle of California Cabernet Sauvignon--”Personally Selected for You by Frank Sinatra,” the label says. The same as last year.

Why the secrecy? “There’s a pecking order of gift-giving based on who the power brokers are,” said the talk-show producer, “so it’s not surprising most of them try and keep it quiet. If someone finds out they didn’t get a gift when others did, or got a less expensive gift, they’ll know they’re not considered as important. . . .

“I once saw an executive scream at his secretary for sending the same fruit basket to a relative ‘nobody’ that she sent to the head of Columbia Pictures. It’s considered the height of idiocy to send the same gift to people in different positions of power.”