'Milk' world premiere benefit at Castro Theatre

 (10-28) 20:50 PDT San Francisco -- The guests came to the Castro Theatre on Tuesday dressed in Levi's and designer dresses, '70s-chic velvet jackets and drag-queen heels and glitter. It looked like a glamorous early start on Halloween, but actually it was a Hollywood affair complete with a red carpet and a who's-who invitation list. And, it was all devoted to a sold-out, one-night-only, world-premiere benefit screening of "Milk," the hotly anticipated new film about the life, times and tragic death of controversial San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk. History came back home to where it started three decades ago. The Castro Theatre vibrated with gay rights past and present. As the creators and stars of the film and local politicians ran the red-carpet press gantlet, a throng of people across the street waved "Vote No on Prop. 8" signs and shouted at every passing car that honked. The measure will eliminate the right to same-sex marriage in California if it passes next week."Harvey Milk gave his life for the struggle for human rights," said San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris. "It's a continuing battle that's not over." State Assemblyman Mark Leno, sporting a "Harvey Milk for Assembly" button on his lapel, connected "the exciting and tumultuous time" of Milk's gay rights activism to the "ill-conceived measure facing voters on the ballot next week." Mayor Gavin Newsom said he felt "a tremendous amount of pride" to be attending the movie's premiere in San Francisco. Citing the changes seen from the "anti-sodomy laws that were still on the books" in the 1970s to San Francisco today, he said, "This story couldn't have happened anywhere else." Supervisor Tom Ammiano was a friend of Milk's. "This is about getting in touch with the grief process," he said, then flashed an affectionately wistful smile. "Harvey was a mensch. He could also be a diva. He would have loved knowing that Sean Penn would be playing him."The feature, directed by Gus Van Sant, opens in theaters Nov. 26. Penn, a Marin County resident, plays the title role in a richly textured performance sure to evoke visceral memories of one of the first openly gay people to win major elective office in the country. Penn was the last to make a grand entrance Tuesday. He strode into the middle of Castro Street, provoking a roar from the anti-Prop. 8 crowd. Then he and his wife, actress Robin Wright Penn, strolled hand-in-hand along the red carpet and inside the packed theater. The two-hour movie follows Milk from New York to San Francisco, where he opened a camera shop on Castro Street and used his political savvy and a surging liberation ideology to win a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. Less than a year after being elected, Milk was shot and killed in City Hall by the recently resigned supervisor Dan White, played by Josh Brolin in the film. White also assassinated Mayor George Moscone, who is played by Victor Garber, on that "Black Monday" in November 1978. Brolin said he truly entered White's consciousness in a "surreal" scene he improvised with Penn. It's a confrontation between the two men at a birthday party in which Brolin seethes and suddenly takes a gulp of alcohol. CONTINUE READING...