Rustlin’ Up Some L.A. Slickers

The Scene: Wednesday’s premiere of Columbia and Castle Rock’s “City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly’s Gold” at the Motion Picture Academy. Four blocks of red carpet went from the theater to the party in an enclosed lot at Wilshire and Palm. With 1,700 guests marching, this was a Beverly Hills-style cattle drive.

Will There Be a Third? In his speech before the screening, Billy Crystal joked that he was considering two sequels: “When Harry Left Sally,” and “City Slickers III: Beating a Dead Horse.”

Who Was There: The film’s stars--Crystal, Jack Palance, Daniel Stern, Jon Lovitz and Patricia Wettig--and director Paul Weiland; plus guests including Rita Rudner; James Coburn; Carl Reiner; David Spade; Ron Silver; James Woods; Castle Rock’s Alan Horn, Martin Shafer and Rob Reiner; Columbia’s Peter Guber and Mark Canton. Also on hand were co-screenwriters Babaloo Mandel and Lowell Ganz. “For those who ask if that’s his real name, it’s not,” said Crystal. “It’s Al Ganz.”

Fashion Statement: To go with the film’s Western setting there was a sprinkling of cowboy boots, blue jeans and bolo ties. Although one woman from New York said, “Fashion? What fashion? Cowboy boots are not fashion.”

Jack’s Been Around a Long Time: When asked what was the best part about doing the movie, Palance replied, “Getting paid.” The Oscar winner doesn’t like seeing himself on screen, so he slipped away to have a turkey sandwich and mashed potatoes at Kate Mantilini’s during the screening. When it was mentioned that Palance hadn’t seen either of the “City Slicker” films, Crystal said: “Listen, he hasn’t seen ‘Shane’ yet.”

Signs of the Start of the Summer Movie Season: Stars clutch bottles of Evian water as they enter screenings. And studio execs talk despondently about the competition: “It’s a blood bath,” said one. “There’s going to be a few big hits and a lot of slaughter.” Of course, he was one of the more optimistic.

Money Matters: The party was free for guests, but Castle Rock made a $25,000 donation to Comic Relief. And two $180,000 checks (part of the $7.8 million raised at Comic Relief VI) were presented to the Venice Family Clinic and Homeless Health Care L.A.

Why It Was Good to Have an Outdoor Party: A screenwriter rhapsodizing on what is rapidly becoming the semi-illicit joy of smoking: “It’s your best friend. It picks you up, it calms you down. You only have sex because a cigarette tastes better afterward.”