Golden Globes 2012: Triumph for the Artist

THE monochrome, silent The Artist came away with the most prizes at the Golden Globe awards in Los Angeles Sunday night, the first time that such a film has won a slew of Hollywood awards since the advent of talkies.

The Artist took three awards, including best picture for a musical or comedy, and best actor in a musical or comedy for Jean Dujardin. Alexander Payne's family drama The Descendants claimed two – for best drama and dramatic actor for George Clooney.

Meryl Streep won for dramatic actress as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, her eighth win at the Globes – and surpised the audience with a string of expletives in her acceptance speech when she fumbled for her spectacles.

Michelle Williams won for actress in a musical or comedy as Marilyn Monroe in My Week with Marilyn, 52 years after Monroe's win for the same prize at the Globes; while Christopher Plummer won best supporting actor for his portrayal an elderly widower who comes out as gay in the Mike Mills's Beginners.

Martin Scorsese took the best director gong for Hugo, the third directing Globe in the last 10 years for Scorsese, who previously won for Gangs of New York and The Departed and received the show's Cecil B DeMille Award for lifetime achievement two years ago.

It fell to the actors and their acceptance speeches to showstop: Octavia Spencer delivered a humble and moving speech when she collected her supporting actress award for The Help. Claire Danes had a great moment when she picked up best actress in a television drama for her work in Homeland; she was finally able to thank her parents, whom she had regretted leaving out of her speech when she won the same award in 1994 for My So-Called Life.

The awards themselves were, with one or two exceptions, largely predictable. although Scorsese's award for his work on Hugo was something of a surprise.

Jessica Lange emerged as a bit of an upset when she won best supporting television actress for her work in the popular but polarising American Horror Story. Aside from that there wasn't much to upset the bidding pools, with The Descendants and The Artist emerging as the big winners on the film side, while Modern Family and Homeland secured the major prizes on the television side.

Golden Globe Winners-Full list

Film
Best Picture, Drama: The Descendants

Best Picture, Musical or Comedy: The Artist

Best Actor, Drama: George Clooney, The Descendants

Best Actress, Drama: Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady

Best Director: Martin Scorsese, Hugo

Best Actor, Musical or Comedy: Jean Dujardin, The Artist

Best Actress, Musical or Comedy: Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn

Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, The Help

Best Foreign Language: A Separation

Best Animated Film: The Adventures of Tintin

Best Screenplay: Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris

Best Original Score: Ludovic Bource, The Artist

Best Original Song: Masterpiece (music and lyrics by Madonna, Julie Frost, Jimmy Harry), W.E.

Television
Best Series, Drama: Homeland, Showtime

Best Series, Musical or Comedy: Modern Family, ABC

Best Actor, Drama: Kelsey Grammer, Boss

Best Actress, Drama: Claire Danes, Homeland

Best Actress, Musical or Comedy: Laura Dern, Enlightened

Best Actor, Musical or Comedy: Matt LeBlanc, Episodes

Best Miniseries or Movie: Downton Abbey (Masterpiece), PBS

Best Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Kate Winslet, Mildred Pierce

Best Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Idris Elba, Luther

Best Supporting Actress, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Jessica Lange, American Horror Story

Best Supporting Actor, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones

Cecil B DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award: Morgan Freeman