An Audience Full of Heroes

The Scene: World premiere of “Hero,” Columbia Pictures’ first big fall movie. Tickets to Monday night’s screening, which spilled into two theaters at the Cineplex Odeon Century Plaza, followed by an al fresco supper across from the theater, benefited Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times for children being treated for cancer and other diseases.

Beyond the Call of Duty: “Hero” star Dustin Hoffman and his wife, Lisa, donated $100,000 for their 10 premiere tickets. Columbia Pictures and the Foundations of the Milken Families bought $50,000 tables for 10. Amy Irving and Bruno Barreto paid $25,000 for 10. Most of the other tickets went for $250 each.

Who Was There: “Hero” director Stephen Frears, stars Geena Davis, Andy Garcia, Chevy Chase, Tom Arnold and Hoffman, producer Laura Ziskin and Alvin Sargent, and executive producer Joseph M. Caracciolo; plus the Monday-night-at-Morton’s crowd including Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman and CEO Peter Guber, Columbia Pictures chairman Mark Canton, CAA president Ron Meyer and Kelly Chapman, Penny Marshall, Oliver Stone, Tony Thomas, Joel Silver, Lynette and Ray Kurtzman, Belinda Carlisle and Morgan Mason, Paul Michael and Elizabeth Glaser, Roseanne Arnold and Carl Reiner.

Quoted: “I can’t sit,” said producer Ziskin, who paced at the back of the theater during the entire movie.

Noted: “It’s nice to hear something besides, ‘Hey, tell your wife her show is great,’ ” said Tom Arnold, receiving congratulations on his big-screen debut.

Audience Review: The movie, an old-fashioned screwball comedy that celebrates altruism and skewers media hype over a false hero, elicited mostly praise. “Loved it. It’s the right kind of movie--it kind of appeals to the basics,” cheered tennis star Jimmy Connors. “To me, it just shows that classic cynicism is a theme that, done well, always works,” said agent Bob Bookman.

Overheard: “This movie is so apropos. You are what the media make you.”

Fashion Statement: The sartorially audacious Geena Davis looked smashing in black tails designed by Richard Tyler.

Chow: Un-lite deep-dish Americana, from pepperoni pizza to chicken pot pie to rice pudding and berry cobbler prepared by Along Came Mary.

Glitches: People who bought the lower-priced tickets needed their walking shoes for dinner. They were relegated to social Siberia with a view of Century Park East, while the holders of higher-price tickets hobnobbed with the stars in a central area.