Night of the White-Faced Mimes

The Scene: Wednesday night’s premiere of “Sliver,” the new thriller from Paramount Pictures, at the Mann National in Westwood, followed by a lavish party at the Armand Hammer Museum. Opening today and starring Sharon Stone, William Baldwin and Tom Berenger, “Sliver” is the first salvo in Hollywood’s summer blockbuster wars. The evening was a benefit for Stop Cancer, the charity headed by Paramount chairman and CEO Sherry Lansing, and $380,000 was raised.

The Buzz: The film’s slogan is “You Like to Watch, Don’t You,” but no matter how much they might want to watch, film critics weren’t invited until Thursday night, meaning that the movie will have at least one day in the theaters before reviews appear. The premiere audience reaction ranged from tepid approval to tepid. (“Sharon Stone was marvelous, but beyond that, no comment. That’s my comment,” said songwriter Bernie Taupin.)

Who Was There: “Sliver” stars Stone and Martin Landau, executive producers Howard Koch Jr. and Joe Eszterhas (who also wrote the film); producer Robert Evans; co-producer William MacDonald and benefit chairs Myra and Ron Silverman. Guests included Dan Aykroyd and Donna Dixon, Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss, Tom Bosley, Colleen Camp, Jack Carter, Ali MacGraw and Marlee Matlin.

Fashion Statements: Stone looked smashing in her patented Grace Kelly Meets Madonna glamour mode. Philanthropist Sybil Brand wore a large “Riordan for Mayor” button. Drew Barrymore wore a neo-’70s denim leisure suit with contrasting stitching, aCcessorized with a Mickey Mouse purse and a cigarette. (“Smoking at a cancer benefit?” asked a Paramount employee in disbelief.)

Noted: Severe face lifts were the most popular accessory. A multitude of mimes in white face roamed the party, to no one’s visible delight. (“A mime is a terrible thing to watch,” quipped one woman.)

Chow: Good, and lots of it. Twenty-nine local restaurants and 10 California wineries had set up food booths around the party.

Crashability: Despite suspicious guards demanding a pass from the film’s executive producer/writer Eszterhas, entry got easier later, when several gate-crashers were seen working the buffet. If you had had the nerve to dress up as a mime, no one would have stopped you.

Quoted: Stone was philosophical about the cuts that had to be made in the film to achieve an R rating. In the approved version she’s nude, but Baldwin is not. “It’s a man’s world,” she said wryly. “There was never anything unacceptable in the first place. All the fuss over the rating was more a publicity gambit than anything else.”

Triumphs: Maps to the food booths--a great idea.

Glitches: A few conspicuous absences. Director Phillip Noyce was on vacation in Jamaica, but co-stars Berenger and Baldwin were AWOL. Sources say that Baldwin pulled out of attending at the eleventh hour. No one even bothered to pretend that he and Stone got along during filming.