As if watching the original 1954 version of "Rear Window," starring Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly, weren't enough of a treat, the film was preceded by an organist who ascended from the floor to play a series of tunes before the packed house. After the live music, we saw a handful of previews for old, black and white films scheduled for re-release in the Castro.

The Castro experience, doubled with the brilliance of a great Hitchcock film, made the evening an unforgettable one.

If you're in San Francisco in the near future and have an evening to spare, stop by the Castro to see the limited re-release of "Rear Window" -- even if you've seen it before -- and you'll be in for a rare theatrical treat.

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Seven years ago, California approved a sweeping overhaul of the workers compensation insurance program, known commonly as "workers' comp," which is the system that is set up to protect employees who are injured on the job. The law requires that employers have sufficient resources to care for and retrain injured workers. Most companies do this by buying insurance, which covers the costs associated with the injured employees, while some companies are, in effect, self-insured.

It is arguable whether former Gov. Pete Wilson's approval of the 1993 reform legislation, which was sought by business interests and some insurers, was his most significant act as governor. But it was a profoundly important decision that has had a tremendous impact on the multibillion-dollar system.

It cracked down on fraudulent practices by medical clinics and lawyers, it streamlined paperwork, it made it harder to file claims for certain kinds of injuries, such as so-called "soft-tissue" and stress injuries, and it repealed a complex arrangement that had been in place for decades that enabled insurers to be recompensed for administrative and overhead costs. It also reduced benefits, workers say.

The Republican governor's action followed months of media exposes of rogue lawyers, doctors and claimants who bilked the system.

In 1992, before the revised program took effect, the workers comp system involved some $11 billion annually in premiums. Now, the system totals about $6 billion. The sharp reduction is due, at least in part, to the cutthroat competition among insurers who are forced to lower premiums to keep their clients. This, indeed, was a major goal of the 1993 legislation, and the employers who pay the premiums for coverage have reaped enormous savings.

But now there is new legislation to change workers' comp, and this time it is being pushed by organized labor, a core constituency of Democratic Gov. Gray Davis. Last year, the governor vetoed labor's workers comp reform plan, but he said he would reconsider a more modest version this year.

That version, still in a preliminary form and containing perhaps $1.1 billion in benefit increases for workers, is in the Legislature and is expected to be sent to a conference committee within the next few weeks.

This issue has not really captured the public's attention -- yet. But an estimated 13 million California workers have a stake in the outcome of the legislation, and the dispute over workers' comp is all but certain to spark a major political fight when the debate begins in earnest this spring. The presumption is that Davis will sign some sort of reform bill, but the nature of that bill is far from certain.

What is certain is that Davis, despite his political affinity for organized labor, is likely to give substantial consideration to the desires of employers, with whom he is developing a close relationship.

Organized labor, which played a crucial role in Davis' election in 1998, was disappointed last year with Davis' veto.

And they may be disappointed again.

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