The Scene: An invitational screening of “Music...

The Scene: An invitational screening of “Music Box,” TriStar Pictures’ new film about the trial of a suspected Hungarian war criminal (actor Armin Mueller-Stahl) and the defense presented by his lawyer daughter (Jessica Lange). Afterward, a group of 150 guests or so repaired to producer Irwin Winkler’s home in Beverly Hills for a late supper.

The Buzz: When a movie screens at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in December, it usually means one thing: The producers hope that it will collect an Oscar or two in March. Guests at the event last weekend chatted about the possibility, and about the four different films with Holocaust themes that Hollywood will be putting in the Christmas stockings of theater exhibitors.

Who Was There: “Music Box” stars Jessica Lange, Lucas Haas, Armin Mueller-Stahl, writer/executive producer Joe Eszterhas, and director Constantin Costa-Gavras; studio figures Dawn Steel, Alan Ladd Jr., John Landis, Mark Rydell, and Tony Thomopoulos; and actors Jacqueline Bisset, Tess Harper, Amy Irving, Shirley MacLaine, Martin Sheen, and Barbra Streisand.

Dress Code: A general rule of thumb at these affairs: The more important one is, the more one can dress down. Guests wore everything from natty suits to jeans.

Chow: Ambrosia provided a pre-screening buffet, but the real dinner was served at Winkler’s house by Spago’s Wolfgang Puck: salmon, herb salad, lamb chops, lobster curry and dessert. A Hungarian string quartet played on the tented patio.

Noted: Screenwriter Eszterhas, whose high-profile feud with agent Mike Ovitz has been the subject of intense Hollywood gossip for months, got the biggest hand of anyone when his credit flashed on screen at the beginning of the movie. Hollywood folks are so brave in the dark.

Quoted: So how will TriStar market a movie that opens on Christmas Day and doesn’t feature aliens, ghostbusters, or Michael J. Fox? “Reviews,” says producer Winkler. “We think we’ve got a chance to get some excellent reviews and hopefully some Academy Award nominations before we open wider around the country.”

Triumphs: “This is really an A party,” guests kept saying at the Winkler house, happily surveying the number of powerful executives among them. It was indeed one of those lavish affairs that prove that author Jackie Collins isn’t a novelist, but a documentarian.

Glitches: Some of the Winkler’s neighbors were having a party of their own complete with tented back yard, band, and valet parking, and a few confused guests pulled up to the wrong house. Just another Friday night in Beverly Hills.