AUSTRALIAN private eye Frank Monte hosted a smattering of New York's semi-elite at a function last week to raise the last $1 million in the $3 million budget of his autobiographical film The Private Eye.

The fax reports an attendance list including Rothschilds, Annenbergs, Sukarnos, von Furstenbergs, Rockefellers and even Countess Dagmar De Brantes - without whom, we must assume, no party in New York is worth its mettle.

Strange, then, that with all that glitterati to choose from, the New York Post opted for instead to print a paparazzi shot of Monte with his "scantily clad assistant" Justine Ski. The movie, which is expected to begin shooting next month, will star Franco Nero, Lesley-Anne Down and Marlon Brando.