First,in the early 1960s, there was Richard Brooks' film version of In Cold Blood. Then, last year, therewas Bennett Miller's well-received biopic, Capote,which netted Philip Seymour Hoffman an Oscar for his portrayal of the mercurialAmerican novelist, Truman Capote. Now, in Venice, a third film inspired byCapote's trip to Kansas to investigate theslaying of a Midwestern family has been unveiled: Douglas McGrath's Infamous (which opened the Horizonssidebar).

Infamous was given an enthusiasticresponse with some critics actually preferring it to Capote. Nonetheless, observers questioned just how cinemagoers willreact to another movie which covers such similar ground to a film released onlya year ago.

Speakingyesterday, McGrath insisted that the success of Miller's Capote will not affect the box-office prospects of his movie, whoseUS release is being handledby Warner Bros.

"Areyou saying there's another film about Truman Capote'" McGrath asked journalistsin mock bewilderment, before adding that Infamoushas its own distinct perspective. "I wanted to show not just that this was agay New York writer going to Kansas but this was a gay writerfrom the very top of New York City, a very rarefied, narrowcircle, going to Kansas."

TheBritish on the Lido were especially curious about Infamousgiven the casting of two English actors in key roles. Toby Jones played thewriter while Daniel Craig was cast as Perry Smith, one of the killers Capotebefriended on Death Row. The role, McGrath suggested, was the utter antithesisof the next part Craig played - namely James Bond.

Tothe disappointment of the paparazzi, Craig didn't show up on The Lido. (He isstill reportedly on Bond duty, putting the finishing touches to Casino Royale.)However, Jones, Sandra Bullock (who plays Capote's childhood friend Harper Lee)and McGrath were all in town.

Inone scene in the movie, Jones and Daniel Craig share a kiss.

"Ihad never dreamt I would kiss James Bond. It was something I had never aspiredto," Jones confessed, describing the kiss as "slightly abrasive, ultimatelyrewarding."