'King's Speech' triumphs at Oscars

There were few surprises at the Oscar ceremony in Los Angeles last night.

As expected, Tom Hooper's  The King's Speech  triumphed in the best picture race, and Colin Firth, the film's star, took the best actor award for his performance as a stammering King George VI. "I've a feeling my career has just peaked," Firth quipped.

The British film, a surprise hit at the US box-office, won four Oscars in total, including that for best director. Many felt that  The Social Network,  David Fincher's examination of the Facebook story, might slip past  The King's Speech,  but, in the event, Fincher's film had to console itself with its own four Oscars, including those for best adapted screenplay and best score.

Christopher Nolan's  Inception  also managed four awards, all in technical categories.

The other acting races also went very much to plan. Natalie Portman, heavily pregnant, picked up the best actress statuette for her turn as a deranged ballerina in Darren Aronofsky's  Black Swan  and thanked everyone, including the camera operator.

Christian Bale's performance as a crack-addicted former boxer in  The Fighter  was honoured with the best supporting actor prize. For many viewers, the highlight of the ceremony came when a frail but surprisingly game Kirk Douglas presented Melisso Leo with the best supporting actress prize for her turn in  The Fighter.

Did she really bellow the word “f**king” on primetime US television? She did. Such things are an enormously big deal in America. Annoyingly, ABC (unlike Sky in this territory) broadcasts with a slight delay to accommodate the bleeping of obscenities.

Presented by James Franco and Anne Hathaway, two actors a generation or so younger than the average Oscar host, the ceremony featured the usual blend of high-showbiz flare and storming bad taste.

Whereas Franco came over a bit surly, Hathaway threw every one of her few pounds into the performance. Her best line came at the beginning when, referencing the reasons for their selection, she praised Franco for being “very appealing to a younger demographic”.

Irish interest in the Oscars surrounded writer and first-time director Michael Creagh, whose work  The Crush, the story of an eight-year-old boy besotted by his teacher, was nominated for best live-action short. That category was won by  God of Love.