RSVP : Hanks Rides Congratulatory Wave

The Scene: Premiere of the summer biggie “Forrest Gump,” the Tom Hanks vehicle about a man with a below-normal IQ, Thursday night at the Paramount Pictures lot. In case you missed the billboards--”HANKS, GUMP, JULY 6”--that’s when it opens to the public. The evening was a benefit for the UCLA Medical Center Auxiliary, the Brave Hearts Foundation (for disadvantaged children with skin disfigurements), and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

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Who Was There: Hordes of hugging and kissing rival studio executives, including Columbia-TriStar Pictures Chairman Mark Canton, whose wife, Wendy Finerman, produced the film for Paramount; Viacom Entertainment Group Chairman Jonathan Dolgen; Paramount Pictures President Sherry Lansing; Warner Bros. Chairman and co-CEO Terry Semel; “Gump” producers Steve Tisch and Steve Starkey; director Robert Zemeckis; stars Hanks with wife Rita Wilson, Sally Field, Robin Wright with husband Sean Penn, Gary Sinise and Mykelti Williamson; also Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy, Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, Ron Howard, Valerie Bertinelli and Eddie Van Halen, Billy Crystal and Martin Short.

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Buzz: Major heat over the movie and for Hanks’ performance, with breathless mentions of the O-word.

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Quoted: “I’m hoping I’m not too jaded to be objective enough to say that a night like this is really special and that I’m grateful enough to know it won’t happen every time,” said Hanks as people lined up to congratulate him.

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The Cry Factor: “I did,” said Ron Howard. Said Hanks, “Every time I see it, I cry in different spots.”

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Overheard: “I’m trying to be humble, but I’m thrilled,” said director Zemeckis, after being told for the 70th time that his film was brilliant or extraordinary.

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You Should Know: “It’s taken a lot for me to stand back and not see it until now because I didn’t feel it was appropriate,” Canton said of seeing his wife’s film for the first time that night.

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Say That Again: “Grace, do you have any idea how the Simpson case will affect people in the entertainment industry?” a microphone-wielding reporter asked with penetrating intensity of rocker Grace Slick.

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Triumph: You have to see the movie to get it, but the post-screening party, involving shrimp, Ping-Pong and gospel, was one of the cleverest celebrations of the year.

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Fashion Statements: Sharon Stone’s French-manicured toes (for cave dwellers, the French manicure features clear polish on the nail bed, white polish on the tips), resplendent in metallic gold sandals; women in ankle-grazing dresses and shoes with wedges the approximate thickness of three scripts piled on top of each other.