Big Crowd Makes Benefit

By BILL HIGGINS

May 31, 1993 12 AM PT

The Scene: Thursday’s benefit premiere for Warner Bros.’ “Made in America.” The screening was at the Bruin theater in Westwood; the party, at Maple Drive in Beverly Hills.

Subtext: If supermarket tabloids gave film awards, this would be movie of the year. They say stars Ted Danson and Whoopi Goldberg became romantically involved during filming. As far as the alleged romance is concerned, Danson and Goldberg (which, by the way, would make a terrific name for a law firm) are keeping mum.

Who Was There: Because the evening benefited a medical charity, there were dozens of doctors making it, “an unusually respectable crowd for a movie premiere,” in one woman’s estimation. The 800 non-medical guests included the film’s stars, Danson and Goldberg, co-stars Will Smith, Nia Long and Jennifer Tilly, out with Lou Diamond Phillips, director Richard Benjamin and his wife, Paula Prentiss, plus Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, Lee Grant, Henry Jaglom, Greg Gorman and Ted Shackelford.

Quoted: Tilly, who has a “no nudity” clause in her contract, on her first day on the set: “I got there and they said, ‘Here’s what you wear.’ And they held up these two, little round circles of paper. And I said, ‘Where do I wear them?’ And they said, ‘You stick them on your nipples.’ I put them on and I looked in the mirror and I thought, ‘I’m undressed and I have on two, little round pieces of paper. I think I’m naked.’ I started to get really confused. Like, does ‘no nudity’ mean you don’t see anything on the screen? Or does it mean you’re not naked on the set? It was kind of a traumatic day.”

Money Matters: Tickets were $150, Warner Bros. underwrote the costs and about $60,000 was netted for the Weizmann Institute of Science, a medical research facility fortunate enough to be located in Rehovot, Israel, the home town of the film’s producer, Arnon Milchan.

Fashion Statement: Members of the singing group Y.T. Style were outfitted for the evening by the H. Lorenzo store in ultra-chic black, collarless Kenzo suits. They looked great except they still had the labels sewn onto the sleeves. “It’s the new style,” was the way singer Antoine Foote smoothed over the gaffe.

Chow: An epicure-friendly menu that included oysters, rack of lamb, grilled swordfish medallions, roast-sirloin sandwiches and enough American caviar to restock the Stanislaus River.

Overheard: “I don’t look fine ,” said one woman. “I look suburban . But that’s OK, because I am suburban.”