A Mob Scene for ‘City of Industry’

The Scene: It was literally Hollywood meets city of Industry on Monday night as the city’s young, hip and restless converged on the Showcase Cineplex Odeon for the premiere of Orion Pictures’ “City of Industry,” a film about “murder, mystery and madness in the underbelly of Los Angeles,” as executive producer Barr Potter put it. The film was directed by John Irvin and stars Harvey Keitel, Stephen Dorff, Famke Janssen, Timothy Hutton and Wade Dominguez. After the screening, guests went elbow to elbow at a reception hosted by Detour magazine at the cramped and overheated Quixote photo studio a few blocks away.

Who Was There: Director Irvin and all the principal cast members were present, as were executive producer Potter and Orion VPs Brad Krevoy and Steve Stabler. Among the 800 or so other guests were Roger Corman, Debi Mazar, Jonathan Schaech, Maxine Bahns of “She’s the One,” “Baywatch’s” Jason Simmons and a host of other smartly dressed B-list actors and models. (After all, the event was a Detour party.)

Can’t We All Just Get Along? This was “a solid American film” in the words of B-movie auteur Corman. “I’ve never understood how the most American films are made by guys who come over from Europe,” he said. “They recognize that Los Angeles may be the first truly multicultural city. And if you’re going to have a gangster shoot-’em-up picture, why not have Caucasians, Mexicans, blacks, Chinese and put them all in there? I thought it was great.”

Chow: It wasn’t much--mostly pasta and finger foods catered by Luna Ristorante. Then again, considering all the rail-thin models present, it was probably more than necessary.

Freebies: It was a moocher’s paradise. Attendees left with bags filled with lipstick, shampoo and conditioner, a T-shirt, sweatshirt, soundtrack cassette, CD single and more. Not satisfied with that, many people were filching the Absolut martini glasses as well.

Hollywood Moment: “That was a strange feeling,” admitted Dorff, who, as the heavy, had to endure the audience’s spontaneous applause during a scene in which he got his face pummeled. “I was actually kind of sad, but then my friend told me that their reaction was a good thing.”