FIRST OFF . . .

Sophia Loren’s husband, producer Carlo Ponti, was cleared by the Italian Supreme Court this week of charges filed in 1978 by the Italian government. Ponti, 76, was accused of illegally exporting some $2 million in public funds advanced to him to make movies exclusively in Italy. The ruling ordered the return of Ponti’s seized assets and meant that the producer--a French citizen--no longer faces legal charges in Italy.