American Hustle, 12 Years a Slave top Golden Globes

LOS ANGELES

Harrowing drama "12 Years a Slave" won the coveted best drama Golden Globe on Sunday, while crime caper "American Hustle" won the musical/comedy film prize and two acting awards.

Hollywood turned out in their fashion finest for the 71st annual Golden Globes, Tinseltown's biggest honours fest before the Academy Awards in March - and a key indicator as to who could be tipped to take home Oscars.

The first prize of the night went to "Hunger Games" star Jennifer Lawrence for her supporting role in "American Hustle," inspired by an FBI sting operation in the 1970s known as ABSCAM.

She beat Sally Hawkins in "Blue Jasmine," Lupita Nyong'o in "12 Years A Slave," Julia Roberts in "August: Osage County" and June Squibb in "Nebraska" in that category.

Australian Cate Blanchett won best drama actress for Woody Allen's "Blue Jasmine" and Matthew McConaughey triumphed for best drama actor in "Dallas Buyers Club."

"The Wolf of Wall Street" star Leonardo DiCaprio and Amy Adams from "American Hustle" won the equivalent awards in the musical/comedy category.

Best director went to Mexican Alfonso Cuaron for spectacular 3D space drama "Gravity," starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as astronauts stranded in orbit after a space station accident.

On the small screen, cult series "Breaking Bad" took the best drama prize and best drama actor for Bryan Cranston, while best TV movie or mini-series went to Liberace biopic "Behind the Candelabra."

Blanchett paid tribute to Woody Allen, who also received the Cecil B DeMille award for lifetime achievement at the Globes - accepted on his behalf by Diane Keaton.

Allen "writes and directs these things with such alarming regularity that we almost take him for granted," Blanchett said.

"Then people like me are in his slipstream picking up these heavy things that make biceps look great."

SPRINKLER MALFUNCTION

There was a near disaster just hours before the show began, when a sprinkler malfunctioned and soaked a large part of the red carpet where the stars were due to arrive at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Lawrence, an Oscar winner, said she hopes to do more than act

"I would love to direct one day, but I don't want to suck. I want to keep learning," she told reporters backstage.

BEST ACTRESS WENT TO...

Minutes after Lawrence won, Adams took best actress for her role in "American Hustle," which also won nominations for Christian Bale and Bradley Cooper.

But Bale was beaten by DiCaprio in the best musical/comedy actor category, won by the "Titanic" star for Martin Scorsese's epic about high finance greed.

And Cooper was defeated by Jared Leto, who took best supporting actor for his portrayal of a transgender woman suffering from AIDS in "Dallas Buyers Club."

Based on a true story, "Dallas Buyers Club" stars McConaughey as an AIDS sufferer who smuggles drugs for other patients to treat the HIV virus in the early days of the disease in the 1980s.

Best foreign film went to Italian Paolo Sorrentino's "The Great Beauty," defeating the Cannes-winning "Blue is the Warmest Color" as well as "The Hunt," "The Past" and "The Wind Rises."

Disney's musical fairy tale adaptation "Frozen" won the Golden Globe for best animated film, beating "The Croods" and "Despicable Me 2."

The Globes are run by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), and voted on by barely 80 journalists - in contrast to the Oscars, chosen by 6,000 members of the prestigious Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

"American Hustle" and "12 Years a Slave" have had a series of boosts in recent weeks, winning nominations from the Producers Guild of America (PGA) and the Directors Guild of America (DGA).

In the last 10 years, all but one of the winners of the DGA's top prize went on to win the best director Oscar.

"12 Years a Slave" also topped nominations for the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) awards, announced last month.

Nominations for the Oscars will be announced on Thursday. The Academy Awards will be held on March 2.

THE FULL LIST OF WINNERS

Here is a list of the winners in key categories at the 71st annual Golden Globes, announced on Sunday in Beverly Hills:

FILM

Best film, drama:"12 Years A Slave"

Best film, musical or comedy: "American Hustle"

Best actor, drama: Matthew McConaughey, "Dallas Buyers Club"

Best actor, musical or comedy: Leonardo DiCaprio, "The Wolf of Wall Street"

Best actress, drama: Cate Blanchett, "Blue Jasmine"

Best actress, musical or comedy: Amy Adams, "American Hustle"

Best supporting actor: Jared Leto, "Dallas Buyers Club"

Best supporting actress: Jennifer Lawrence, "American Hustle"

Best director: Alfonso Cuaron, "Gravity"

Best foreign language film: "The Great Beauty"

Best animated feature: "Frozen"

TELEVISION

Best drama series: "Breaking Bad"

Best drama actor: Bryan Cranston, "Breaking Bad"

Best drama actress: Robin Wright, "House of Cards"

Best comedy series: "Brooklyn Nine-Nine"

Best comedy actor: Andy Samberg, "Brooklyn Nine-Nine"

Best comedy actress: Amy Poehler, "Parks and Recreation"

Best mini-series or TV movie: "Behind the Candelabra"

Best mini-series or TV movie actor: Michael Douglas, "Behind the Candelabra"

Best mini-series or TV movie actress: Elisabeth Moss, "Top of the Lake"