TINSELTOWN SPYWITNESS.

Byline: Joel Stratte-McClure

RACE AND RELATIONSHIPS: How truthful is the depiction of single black professional women and their relationships with white men in ``Something New''? Is all of that attitude, humor and sarcasm about interracial contact an exaggeration?

That's what everyone was talking about at the after-party at the Cabana Club following the movie's premiere - attended by Prince (who sneaked in through a side door), Queen Latifah, Gabrielle Union, Randy Jackson, Mark Ruffalo, Mary Kay Place, Brenda Strong, Arielle Kebbel and Zach Braff - in the Cinerama Dome at the ArcLight on Tuesday night.

``Wisteria Lane is a fantasy, but this is dead-on reality,'' said ``Desperate Housewives' '' Alfre Woodard, who joins a cast that includes Sanaa Lathan, Simon Baker, Golden Brooks, Donald Faison and Blair Underwood in the film that opens on Friday. ``This is a segment of black society concerned with status, class and breeding that usually isn't parodied on film.''

What's the message for career-oriented black women? ``The problems are real but women put a lot of the pressure on themselves,'' said Lathan, who plays a stressed-out corporate exec who falls for a white landscape architect. ``They should learn not to worry about what everyone thinks.''

The script is partially based on the life of screenwriter Kriss Turner, who's a producer on ``Everybody Hates Chris.'' ``I'm 42, still single, don't have kids and am asking the questions posed by many professional women, black and white,'' said Turner. ``What happened to my life? Why do I have to continually prove myself at work? Are things so bad that I've got to find a white man?''

And what's a white guy's role amid this existential drama? ``He knows he loves her and doesn't care what color she is,'' said Baker. ``Like any guy, he's foolishly optimistic.''

Then there's the profound point contained in a line delivered by Earl Billings.

``The boy's just white, he's not a Martian.'' Things could be worse.

KEEPING TABS: What does Tab Hunter think of all the attention that ``Brokeback Mountain,'' ``Capote'' and ``Transamerica'' are getting?

``A good movie's a good movie,'' said Hunter, as he signed copies of his best-selling book, ``Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star,'' at A Different Light bookstore in West Hollywood. ``I don't care if films are gay, straight or crooked if they're honest and intelligent.''

Hunter, whose autobiography describes his life and career as a mostly closeted gay actor, was known as ``The Sigh Guy'' when he began acting and singing in the 1950s. Are any performances making him sigh this season?

``Philip Seymour Hoffman did an extraordinary job in 'Capote,''' said Hunter, who was ``enchanted'' by ``Brokeback Mountain'' but hasn't seen ``Transamerica.''

Fit and trim at 74, Hunter lives with longtime partner Allan Glaser in Montecito and will be at the Santa Barbara Film Festival next month for a screening of ``Polyester'' and an exhibit of Tab memorabilia. Although he hasn't made a movie since ``Dark Horse'' in 1992, he might get involved in a film based on the book. ``Confidential'' has attracted a wide array of readers, particularly women now in their 50s and 60s and members of the gay community. And people have come out of the woodwork to meet its author.

Ellie Sommers came to A Different Light to see Hunter for the first time since she played his younger sister in the TV movie ``Hans Brinker'' in 1958. A German acquaintance reminded Hunter that they used to frolic at the Hollywood YMCA pool in the '50s. A man from England had Hunter sign an original record jacket of ``Young Love.'' ``Hollywood is based on good luck and good timing,'' said Hunter, as he accommodatingly posed for pictures with almost every fan. ``The book came out at just the right time.''

WISTERIA LOAN: Where did Teri Hatcher pick up those knotted $38,000 gold-and-diamond earrings she had on at the Golden Globes? In fact, they were borrowed from a hairdresser.

Turns out that Rodeo Drive hair salon owner/stylist Frederic Fekkai went into the jewelry business with H. Stern last spring. He helped design a collection of jewelry made from colored diamonds with pieces that cost between $800 and $150,000. The Frederic Fekkai by H. Stern line included the 3-inch-long earrings chosen by Hatcher when her stylist Vincent Boucher took them to her home to try on.

Why did Hatcher go for them?

``They complement her bone structure, are just right for the length of her hair and accentuate her style and look,'' said Fekkai, who left Aix-en-Provence to open his first salon in New York in 1983 and started the Beverly Hills branch in 1998. ``They were the right match for her gold/bronze Versace gown and created a movement that flowed with her hair.''

How did other hair flow at the Globes?

``Most hairstyles definitely illustrated that actresses want to look happy, healthy and wealthy,'' said Fekkai, who ``appreciated'' the hairstyles of Cameron Diaz, Keira Knightley, Charlize Theron and his client Mischa Barton. ``Everything is very soft and, instead of harsh highlights, tones for blondes and brunettes tend to be champagne, cinnamon or caramel.''

Though Fekkai liked the way George Clooney, Pierce Brosnan, Hugh Laurie and Matt Dillon looked, he was generally disappointed in the male plumage.

``Most of the men looked shabby, unshaven and poorly groomed,'' said Fekkai. ``There's no reason to be perfectly coiffed, but they definitely need to be a little more stylish at the Oscars.''

Earrings, anyone?

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo:

(1) BAKER and LATHAN: Coupled on film.

(2) TURNER: Life in the trenches.

Vince Bucci/Getty Images

(3) HUNTER: ``Enchanted'' by gay cowboys.

Amanda Edwards/Getty Images

(4) HATCHER: Borrowed her baubles.

Jeff Vespa/WireImage.com