`Sabrina Goes To Rome' In Hart-Felt ABC Movie Sunday

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Unless you're a witch.

Melissa Joan Hart follows that guideline in "Sabrina Goes to Rome," a TV-movie spinoff of her Friday-night show, which just began its third season. Produced on location, the new film airs Sunday on KOMO-TV at 2 p.m., as part of the "Wonderful World of Disney" franchise.

Daniel Berendsen's script finds Sabrina dealing with a special locket that can't be opened, due to a spell cast by one of her ancestors (who's also played by Hart). Traveling overseas to break it, Sabrina is followed by two young men (James Fields, Hart's real-life beau, and Eddie Mills), with such famous sites as the Trevi Fountain and the Colosseum as backdrops. The witch's adventures also introduce her to another teen sorceress (Tara Charendoff).

The new "Sabrina" movie resulted from ABC's ratings for the first film, originally presented on Showtime before the "Sabrina" series premiered. "I guess it came in right under `Pocahontas' and `The Lion King' as the most popular movie `The Wonderful World of Disney' ran last year," Hart says. "They wanted to do another one, and I was all for it. When they set it in Rome, how could I resist?"

Filming in Italy wasn't total fun for Hart, though. "It was loud, so I spent two days looping (or re-recording) dialogue. It was also hot, and it was difficult with the language barrier. The director couldn't understand the cinematographer and vice versa, but that said, it was fun and a real challenge. Still, I wouldn't recommend working in another country unless you understand the language really well."

"Sabrina Goes to Rome" reminds Hart of "Roman Holiday," one of her favorite films. "I had wanted to remake that movie," she claims, "but I never wanted to be compared to Audrey Hepburn. If there was any way to do the sort of things she did and still be in Rome, I was willing to try. The guys who come into the story follow Sabrina around with cameras, trying to prove she's a witch. That's like `Roman Holiday,' but otherwise, it's basic `Sabrina.' "

During the 1997-98 season, Hart consciously pursued different material in the two TV movies she made. "Two Came Back" featured her as a survivor of a disaster at sea, and in "Silencing Mary," she played a school-paper reporter exposing an athlete who raped one of her friends.

"Those stories seemed really strong, and so did the characters, who were a little bit older," Hart reflects. "This year, I was supposed to do some independent-film work, but the financing fell through. I ended up doing the `Sabrina' movie and taking a little bit of time for myself, so it actually turned into a really nice summer for me. If I do a TV-movie now, I want it to be something I really, truly believe in."

Hart has just started shooting "Next to You," a feature film she believes in enough to have moved up production on the "Sabrina" series.