Hot Time Above the City

An impossibly narrow road leads higher and higher, beyond the crush of traffic to a hilltop restaurant with stunning views of the glittering city. If it weren’t for the crowd--willowy women in spectacularly revealing clothes and the well-coiffed men hovering around them--the site would resemble a turn-of-the-century Japanese palace.

It’s Yamashiro, of course, and the men’s magazine Maxim is hosting a party at the restaurant to celebrate its list of the hottest 100 women--actresses, models, musicians and athletes. (Jennifer Garner of TV’s “Alias” earned the No. 1 spot. “Spider-Man” star Kirsten Dunst was second.)

Beyond the doormen (who resembled well-dressed sumo wrestlers), a waitress offers tall glasses of clear liquid. “It’s called a Lucky Guess,” she says. And the ingredients? “I have no idea.” One sip confirms the refreshing nectar contains alcohol--and a lot of it. The music is loud, but few people venture real conversation anyway. This crowd is keen on spotting A-listers. Ben Affleck is expected. (He doesn’t show, but Benicio Del Toro, Cameron Diaz and Leonardo DiCaprio do.)

People crowd into a room of windows overlooking the red carpet to eat sushi and gawk at the arrivals on this recent Thursday evening. In a far corner, Leah Santos reads tea leaves for guests. The 55-year-old astrologer is no stranger to Hollywood, but she’s of another era. “Thank God they’re finally playing some Led Zeppelin,” she says. “This reminds me of happy times ... I used to go out with Jimmy Page at the Rainbow Room.”

Inside, the action centers around a large Japanese garden lit by hanging paper lanterns.

On one end, a small crowd has gathered around a man on a unicycle who is balancing bowls on his head. At the other, a trio of women, all wearing low-cut dresses and the same shade of blond hair, cause a traffic jam near the entrance. Someone says Hugh Hefner has arrived.

“Maxim is very hot right now,” a petite woman in red-framed glasses tells a friend. “At their parties, the quotient of cool dudes and super vixens is very, very high.”

Buying Baubles

to Benefit Women

“It’s like Tupperware parties but with a conscience,” said Brooke Shields, as she stood in a friend’s Santa Monica home Saturday afternoon. Around her, several dozen women, including Mimi Rogers and Rose McGowan, hovered over turquoise and jade jewelry, some clutching little tubs of sorbet. Others jotted their orders down on clipboards.

The occasion for the gathering of about 200 well-heeled women (Prada, Manolo) was a jewelry party for charity. The women spent about $23,000 on baubles made by Hands of Change, a local nonprofit. The profits will benefit programs that aim to improve the economic condition of women in developing countries.

Shields, the organization’s celebrity, was wearing her own creation, a chunky red necklace named Brooke. She smiled, and hugged Shatari Davis, 18, one of the jewelry makers. “You can buy all this jewelry and never experience buyer’s remorse.”

Playing the Client and Agent Game

In Chapter 1, “The Water Is Filled With Sharks,” former Hollywood agent Nancy Rainford poses the questions that run through her book: “Trust your agent? Can you? Should you?”

“How to Agent Your Agent” (Lone Eagle; due in June) is a self-help book of the Hollywood kind: part advice, part industry guide, with a dose of dish.

In conversation, Rainford is not exactly charitable when it comes to describing agents: “Sharks and lawyer types.”

Rainford, whose clients have included Jada Pinkett-Smith, Adam Goldberg and Ray Liotta, offers tips to actors and writers on how to squeeze more work from an agent, including “always appear to be busy” and “take credit when you can.” Both, she says, will keep the agent motivated. “You have to cajole your agent to work harder for you,” she says, adding that not every agent in the industry has understood the importance of what she calls the “three Ss: Sign, Sell and Service.”

Rainford also describes how an agent might seduce--in the best Sammy Glick style--a prospective client. Once the target is identified, the agent will stay close. At first, the agent on the prowl will be pleasant and fun to be around, she says. Then comes the agent’s full-bore schmooze: presents, invitations to parties and ball games. “Eventually, you [the agent] go in and plant the seeds of doubt,” Rainford says. “You throw out a line [like] ‘There’s a lead in a movie that’s perfect for you--big director, big studio movie.’” That the movie may already be cast won’t matter. “It makes the actor think, ‘How come I’m not getting these opportunities?’ If it happens often enough, the actor will start doubting their own agent,” and that’s when the new agent can move in for the kill. [Theme to “Jaws” goes here.]

Quote/Unquote

“The fastest way to burn a bridge is when a journalist probes too deeply, asks uncomfortable questions.”--20th Century Fox International publicist Hilary Clark, giving advice to reporters at an L.A. Press Club panel on how to access Hollywood.

City of Angles runs Tuesday through Friday. E-mail: angles@ latimes.com.