The Scene: The West Coast premiere Tuesday...

The Scene: The West Coast premiere Tuesday night of “Heavy Petting” at the Director’s Guild of America. The documentary intercuts clips of celebrities talking about their adolescent sexual experiences with scenes from real sex education, venereal disease and instructional films of the 1950s. A reception before the film benefited the International Documentary Foundation and was hosted by radio personality Dr. Demento.

The Buzz: Why, guests wondered, would anyone agree to discuss their teen sexual experiences on camera? Director Obie Benz explained: “A lot of people were nervous, and for good reason. But we interviewed 40 people, and got 30 hours of film. This is really all very tame stuff. I’m saving the rest of the footage in case there’s a sequel--which I’ll call ‘Heavier Petting.’ ”

Who was there: Lots of vocal groups and singers from the ‘50s and ‘60s, including Richard Barry (“Louie Louie”); Jan, of Jan and Dean; Hank Ballard, of the Midnighters; Dick and Dee Dee; the Tokens (“The Lion Sleeps Tonight”); Tina Louise, of “Gilligan’s Island”; and film star Kelly Lynch.

Entertainment: The Del Rubio Triplets, the fantastic have-guitar-will-travel sister act from San Pedro, sang “Chain of Fools” and “These Boots Are Made for Walking.”

The Food: Caterers in ‘50s outfits sweated over a burger grill, a chili dog cart, bins of French fries bubbling in grease and bottles of flavored seltzer cooling in metal tubs of ice. For dessert, there were ice cream sandwiches, Drumsticks and candy baked beans.

Dress code: Some guests actually dug out poodle skirts and leather jackets for the occasion, but most of the crowd seemed content to wear the usual screening attire: jackets and jeans.

Overheard: “I’m one of Sandra Bernhard’s managers, and I need to find the director,” announced one extremely important person.

Triumphs: The Del Rubio Triplets’ version of “Chain of Fools” brought down the house. Guests also seemed impressed with the food, particularly the authentic childhood taste of the hamburgers, which didn’t have any California touches like goat cheese or bean sprouts.

Glitches: Considering that the movie featured notables like William Burroughs, David Byrne, Laurie Anderson, and Allen Ginsberg, it would have been nice to see some of them at the party.