A Preview of ‘The World of Casasola’

The documentary photographs of Agustin Victor Casasola tell the story of a dynamic and formative period in the history of Mexico. Through a special grant from the Ford Motor Co. we’ll have a chance to see them in an exhibition entitled “The World of Casasola: Mexico 1900-1938,” which opens at UCLA’s Wight Art Gallery on Nov. 19.

Before the exhibition opens to the public, Ford will be hosting a private preview and champagne reception on Nov. 16. On hand for that fiesta will be Mexico’s Ambassador to the U.S. Jorge Espinoza de los Reyes who serves as honorary co-chairman for the exhibition during its Los Angeles stay along with Bill Richardson and Matthew Martinez, co-chairmen of the Hispanic Congressional Caucus, Mayor Tom Bradley and UCLA Chancellor Charles E. Young. Also on hand to help host the gala opening will be O.B. (Bud) Marx III, president and managing director of Ford de Mexico.

The super-rich Carringtons of “Dynasty” live in a beautiful mansion with just a few drawbacks.

Prince Rainier III of Monaco noticed the missing roof (in its place scaffolding and television lights) when he dropped in for lunch Monday afternoon with his family. He told his friend Frank Cresci, Monaco’s consul general in New York, who was admiring the place, “You wouldn’t want to live here.”

The walls slide out (for easier television camera access) and the location isn’t quite prime Bel-Air (the mansion sits smack in the middle of Warner Bros. Hollywood Studio on Santa Monica Boulevard). Still, it’s a handsome home with its curving staircase and paneled library copied meticulously from Filoli, the mansion in Woodside, Calif., once the home of the William P. Roth family, where the pilot for “Dynasty” was shot. And with David Jones’ pretty bouquets everywhere, and classy touches of Oriental porcelain and silver around, it was an appropriate setting for Monday’s luncheon hosted by “Mr. and Mrs. Blake Carrington, Mrs. Alexis Carrington Colby Dexter and their families.” The real-life people who footed the bill were producers Aaron Spelling and Douglas S. Cramer. The guests of honor were Prince Rainier and his offspring Prince Albert, Princess Caroline (she showed up in stirrup pants) and Princess Stephanie (she wore a denim pantsuit). Caroline’s husband Stefano Casiraghi skipped the event as did Cary Grant and Frank and Barbara Sinatra. And Stephanie was back to chewing on her nails again.

Esther Shapiro, co-creator of “Dynasty” with her husband Richard, stood in the library, her favorite room, sipping champagne and waiting for the arrival of the princely family. “For the first two years,” Mrs. Shapiro commented, “I did everything around here but the windows. And I felt it was my home. One day someone left a Styrofoam coffee cup on the floor in this room and I went crazy.”

The receiving line standing in front of the grand staircase included John Forsythe (Blake Carrington), Joan Collins (Alexis), Linda Evans (Krystal Carrington), Charlton Heston (“Dynasty II’s” patriarch Jason Colby) and Mrs. Cary Grant who had co-chaired Sunday night’s gala for the Princess Grace Foundation, USA. Later when Forsythe welcomed the princely family and recalled the love Hollywood felt for the “talented actress (Grace Kelly) who gave up her career to marry a prince (Rainier)” he introduced himself as “the oldest and the meanest of the Carringtons.”

“I’m the uncle,” Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia explained, referring to his niece, “Dynasty’s” Catherine Oxenberg, whom he had just kissed. “I’m the aunt,” chimed in his wife, Princess Barbara of Liechtenstein, who was snapping photos of the Hollywood celebrities while admitting, “I love movie stars.” Mrs. Aaron Spelling, a cool blonde, wore gold and diamonds with her cream and cafe au lait tunic dress. Mrs. Arpad Plesch, the horse owner, asked to have her picture taken with Forsythe, another horse owner, as did her daughter Countess Bunny Esterhazy. “A lot of people are buying horses,” said Cramer who buys modern art. “Dynasty’s” set decorator Brock Broughton conducted a few brisk tours through the set.

Chasen’s laid out a royal feast--smoked salmon and cold seafood in the Carringtons’ dining room. It was followed by a sit-down lunch in the room that serves as both living room and master bedroom. “We move fireplaces about,” explained “Dynasty’s” Elaine Rich who had a lot to do with planning the lunch party. Everyone tucked into the cold asparagus vinaigrette and the London broil and the strawberries accompanied by hot chocolate fudge sauce. Cramer who was catching a plane to New York later (to attend the Sotheby’s sale of contemporary art) and Mrs. Shapiro held back. They’ve both lost oodles of pounds on Hermien Lee’s nutrition program and it definitely does not include fudge sauce.

Rounding out the guest list were Julie Forsythe, Jean Miguel of Maxim’s des Mers (the luxury cruise ship will be launched in Venice during February’s carnival), Stefan Tomek (of the International Club Epicure Group, which has just added the Granville on Crescent Heights to its chain), Mrs. Oscar Wyatt Jr. (she was returning to Houston that afternoon), Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hausman (he heads the foundation), Mr. and Mrs. John Mazzola, Monaco’s Mrs. Paul Gallico who was going to Palm Springs with Gant Gaither for a little rest, Diahann Carroll, ABC’s Mr. and Mrs. Lew Erlicht, Gordon Thomson, Pamela Bellwood, the Earl and Countess of Dudley, Secretary of the Navy and Mrs. John Lehman Jr. (he is the late Princess Grace’s cousin), Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia, “Dynasty’s” costume designer Nolan Miller, Mrs. Erich Koenig with Robin Plunket, Ed DeBlasio, Norman Donaghue, the Bernard Combemales, Robert and Eileen Pollock, Richard Grant, Diana Gould, Diana Wetherill and Rachel McCallister. During lunch, Prince Albert talked animatedly to Joan Collins on his left and Catherine Oxenberg on his right. And after lunch, quite a few went on to watch “Dynasty” and “Love Boat” in action. Prince Rainier and his son were going to Las Vegas. And the entire family was reuniting in Los Angeles for the flight back to New York and eventually home.

The Social Scramble: The Harrison Fords were at the Siamese Princess the other night dining in a quiet corner with Peter Weir. Also there, Disney’s Jeffrey Katzenberg; Claire Rothman celebrating her birthday; Gordon Mills who manages the careers of Engelbert Humperdinck and Tom Jones. And at lunch time, publicist Judi Davidson, wife of the Taper’s artistic director Gordon, was talking about a juicy new book about life in the fast lane in Palm Beach. Pat Booth tells it all, Judi claims, in the novel called--surprise--”Palm Beach.” Booth is in the process of moving to Palm Springs. Now you know what to expect next.

Jane Wooster Scott, the artist, and her latest primitive paintings were on view Monday night at Scandia where Gene Kelly and the Robert Petersens were hosting a private vernissage . (The paintings moved to the Petersen Gallery the next day.) Shifting from paintings to a buffet table of Scandinavian delights were Sylvia and Irving Wallace, Sidney Sheldon and daughter Mary, Liz Scott, Mike and Marylou Connors, Richard Gully, Loriene and Dr. Cliff King, Rhonda (Fleming) and Ted Mann, Elsie and Franklin Pollock, Bobbie and Bill Pagen, among many more.

The Wilshire Theatre was chockablock with legitimate celebrities the night “Aren’t We All?” had its official opening night. Among them--Audrey and Billy Wilder, Mary and Irving (Swifty) Lazar, Dudley Moore, Peter and Annette O’Malley, Jimmy Doolittle with Jarma Bensinger, Joan Rivers with her husband Edgar Rosenberg, Betsy Bloomingdale with Bill Frye, the Henry Bergers, Jacque Mapes with Connie Towers Gavin, Martha Lorden with Jim Wharton, Ross Hunter with Nancy Sinatra Sr., Bill and Mignon Winans, Janet and Freddie De Cordova and Mr. and Mrs. Karl Malden.

In Los Angeles Mary Carol and Mickey Rudin gave a party at the Mandarin Restaurant for former U.S. Ambassador to Austria Helene von Damm and her new husband Peter Guertler who was a good catch because he’s handsome and also owns Vienna’s Sacher Hotel. And a few days later in New York Rosaleen and Bill Fine hosted a dinner party for the couple at the Plaza Athenee Hotel. The New York guest list included Dawn Mello of Bergdorf Goodman, British Consul Frank Kennedy and his wife Ann, Edward Rayne, chairman of Rayne Delman, and his wife Morna and Joann Barwick, editor-in-chief of House Beautiful magazine.

The other night the dinner bunch at the Bistro included Luisa and Roger Moore with Dr. Steven Zax, the plastic surgeon; Adrienne and Vernon Underwood with Marjorie (Lord) and Harry Volk; British film director Bryan Forbes and his actress wife Nanette Newman with their daughter Sarah and her husband John Standing (he co-stars with Robert Wagner in “Lime Street”) dining in the company of Claudia Mirkin, Dareth and Tony Newley and Mark Goodson.