Arthur and Guinevere Would’ve Loved It

The Screening: Monday’s benefit world premiere of Columbia’s “First Knight,” described by star Sean Connery as “a very simple, very easy-to-comprehend version of the Camelot tale,” at the Motion Picture Academy. A major party followed on the studio’s lot.

Who Was There: The film’s stars, Connery, Richard Gere and Julia Ormond; director Jerry Zucker; plus 1,000 guests, including Kathy Bates, Neil Simon, Courteney Cox, Christian Slater, Michael Crichton (who said he has yet to see “Congo”), Mike Medavoy, Peter Guber, Adam Platnick, and studio execs Mark Canton, Alan Levine, Fred Bernstein and Sid Ganis.

The Setting: Hollywood excels at parties like this. Guests were met at the studio’s gates by trumpeters and two knights on white Andalusian stallions, then passed through a flurry of paper rose petals. (“I want this when people come to my house for screenings,” Barbara Davis said.) After walking past two rows of more knights in armor, party-goers entered the outdoor dining area, transformed by Entertainment Lighting Services into a medieval wedding scene. Fifty gas torches burned. Shields, banners, flowers and flags hung from lampposts, and a 19-piece orchestra played Handel. The film’s Arthurian round table, complete with 13 seven-pound swords, was brought in from England.

Overheard: “I rate parties by the number of laps I do,” a film producer said. “This is a three-lapper.”

Chow: In medieval times they feared no calorie. From Along Came Mary, there was roasted leg of lamb and trout, orzo pasta, rock shrimp, grilled sausages, carrot risotto and desserts too plentiful and decadent to mention.

The Buzz: It’s the romance that’s going to sell the film. “What woman wouldn’t want to be fought over by those two guys [Connery and Gere],” said more than one female guest.

Quoted: “It’s the kind of film everyone dreams of making in terms of being transported,” Gere said. “Contemporary drama is kind of easy, but to do something this fantastic, this dream-world-oriented, is demanding in a different way.”

Observed: Wearing what looked like a sale item from the Conan the Barbarian Boutique was a platinum blonde with a prominent tattoo on her stomach and wearing a metal bikini complemented by a black cape.

Money Matters: Tickets were $250. More than $275,000 was divided between the Venice Family Clinic and the Children’s Bureau of Southern California.