King Triumphant at Golden Globes

The Return of the King saw off Cold Mountain and Mystic River to take the first major scalp of the award season at last night's Golden Globes.

The final part of Peter Jackson's Tolkien trilogy won four Golden Globes, including best film drama, often a leading indicator for success at the Oscars. Jackson was named best director, and the film picked up two musical awards.

Also successful was Lost in Translation, which won best comedy or musical, best screenplay for its writer-director Sofia Coppola, and best comic actor for Bill Murray. Diane Keaton won the best comic actress award for her part opposite Jack Nicholson in Something's Gotta Give.

Clint Eastwood's Mystic River won best actor (drama) for Sean Penn, and best supporting actor for Tim Robbins. Best actress (drama) went to Charlize Theron for her portrayal of a serial killer in Monster.

All of which left Cold Mountain with nothing more than a best supporting actress award for Renee Zellweger, very much the consolation prize for a film which had been nominated for eight awards and hotly tipped as a possible Oscar winner.

Jackson played down the Oscar speculation after the ceremony. Asked if he was now hopeful of success at next month's Academy Awards, he replied: "Well, I don't know; I tend not to want to think in such competitive terms."