THE GOLDEN GLOBES

By Rachel Abramowitz, Lorenza Munoz and Lynn Smith, Times Staff Writers

Unlike the more rigidly orchestrated and segregated Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, held at Merv Griffin's Beverly Hilton, tend to promote mingling, on- and off-stage. In the bathrooms and on the smoking balcony, stars of the big and little screen milled and chilled, killing the hours of the broadcast or just taking care of, er, business. (During bathroom breaks, the stars could get hair and makeup retouched courtesy of L'Oreal and Cloutier, a Santa Monica-based agency that represents hairdressers, makeup artists and wardrobe stylists.)

Waiting in line at one women's room, Jennifer Aniston was approached by a teenager who said, "You're the girl on 'Friends.' " Aniston was promptly moved off to another location.

A balcony off the ballroom overlooking the pool area served as the smoking lounge. "How can you be so beautiful? Tell us at the Italian press," a reporter said to Uma Thurman, who had stepped out for a cigarette. Nearby, Jude Law could be seen conferring with Chris Cooper, and Maggie Gyllenhaal chatted with Peter Sarsgaard (nominated for best supporting actor in "Shattered Glass.")

Children came along too. Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Costner, Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon, Jane Fonda, Al Pacino, and Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith had offspring in tow. "Cold Mountain" director Anthony Minghella arrived with his son.

Elsewhere:
Golden Globe night is always the night of the breast — curves and cleavage enhanced by cosmetology or fashion — or, in some cases, betrayed by them. "Yikes!" said presenter Nicole Kidman, adjusting the top of her side-less gown before announcing Sean Penn the best actor in a drama. Mary-Louise Parker added a category to the endless thank-you when she accepted the award as supporting actress in a series, miniseries or movie made for television for her work in "Angels in America." Before the show, she explained, fellow "West Wing" actress Janel Moloney promised to give Parker $1,000 if she publicly thanked her 3-week-old son, William, for the voluptuousness of her breasts. So Parker did. "Get out your checkbook," she said.

Missing in action: Ex-United Artists president Bingham Ray, who recently departed UA, was watching the Globes in his apartment when the phone rang. Four friends: Tom Bernard and Michael Barker (the two heads of Sony Pictures Classic) and James Schamus and David Linde (heads of Focus Features) were calling to say: "We miss you, and we wish you were here."

Heavy security: Tickets had been embedded with computer chips and were scanned by a machine at arrivals. There were more than 100 security officials from the FBI, Beverly Hills Police Department and county Sheriff's Department at the hotel. Bomb-sniffing dogs were taken through the ballroom.

Laughing at 'Pictures': "Everybody" was talking about Peter Biskind's book "Down and Dirty Pictures," a searing look at Miramax and its overheated leader, Harvey Weinstein. Former Miramax exec Mark Gill, now head of Warner Independent, said he was reading the book on a plane trip from L.A. to Paris, laughing so loudly that a flight attendant admonished: "Monsieur, silence s'il vous plaît." The book, Gill said, "was like crack." None of this was lost on Weinstein. "You should hit somebody tonight," Weinstein joked to actor Johnny Depp as the two stood on a smoking patio. "Then they'll write a book about you."

Wisecracked Tom Bernard: "It seems Harvey leaves a lot of events early these days."

Turning the tables: There were 116 tables that sat 12. Normally, the big studios and hot movie stars get tables in "the pit," an area within good camera range, and television actors sit on the tiers behind. (Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman didn't request separate tables, but planners kept them apart anyway.) Sometimes there are disappointments. "We have the worst table in the room," said New Line Cinema's head of international marketing, Rolf Mittweg, "and we're going to win everything." (Well, not everything, but New Line's "Lord of the Rings" won all four categories in which it was nominated.)

Every vote counts: There are only about 90 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn., so each member's opinion counts far more than the typical Oscar voter. As one Portuguese journalist described it, they're less discerning in their methodology. "In the end," said Rui Coimbra, who writes for the newspaper Expresso in Lisbon, "we're more fans of movies than judges."