A Tres Bon Evening All the Way Around

Le Scene: It was a feeding frenzy for autograph hounds and paparazzi who descended on Mann’s Chinese Theater on Monday evening for the star-choked world premiere of “French Kiss,” a light comedy directed by Lawrence Kasdan about love, hope and burglary. The film features Meg Ryan, Kevin Kline, Timothy Hutton and plenty of French scenery. More than 1,000 people showed up at the screening. Afterward, about 250 guests made un petit commute for a feeding frenzy of their own at an apres-screening soiree at Eclipse in West Hollywood.

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Who Was There: Since only two cast members--Hutton (who came with Uma Thurman) and the waifish Ryan--joined Kasdan and writer Adam Brooks at the premiere, it was the weighing-in by many non-cast heavies that really made this a celebrity watcher’s paradise. Among the recognizable faces were Kevin Costner (who shed the ponytail for a close-cropped Harrison Ford-esque ‘do), Geena Davis, Rosie O’Donnell, Rosanna Arquette, Rebecca DeMornay, Steve Martin (who didn’t see the movie), JoBeth Williams, Dennis Quaid, Mike Meyers, Catherine O’Hara and Cuba Gooding Jr.

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Chow: Guests were treated to overflowing buffets of nouvelle cuisine, including plenty of fromage, black olive fougasse, roasted lamb rack avec Rosemary jus, smoked magret Provencal sandwiches--to name a few. Needless to say, there was beaucoup vin de France to drink, as well.

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Entertainment: The Francophile theme also held sway for the music. The band Nuages played every recognizable piece of French music from Edith Piaf covers to “Frere Jacques.”

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For the Michelin Guide: “France is fantastic,” gushed director Kasdan. “I love working there. Loved the French crew we had. They have a wonderful attitude over there, which is, you work and then you stop working. In Hollywood, you just work.”

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Another Fan for France: “Unreal,” said leading actress Ryan, who clutched a dogeared copy of “Ring Around the Moon,” which had been returned to her that night by her one-time acting-class scene partner. “They found a way to raise satisfying all the senses to an art. Every one of them. What you taste, what you hear, what you smell, what you see. You’re kind of in a heightened state all the time you’re there. It’s fantastic.”