"Atonement," which led Globe contenders with seven nominations, stars Keira Knightley and James McAvoy. The period drama traces the dire consequences following a jealous teen's false criminal accusation against her sister's new lover.
Daniel-Day Lewis was named best dramatic actor for the historical epic "There Will Be Blood," in which he plays a baron of California's oil boom in the early 20th century whose commercial interests put him at odds with a young preacher.
Julie Christie was named best dramatic actress Sunday for the gloomy drama "Away From Her," starring as a woman succumbing to Alzheimer's who forms a new attachment to a fellow patient that causes heartache for her steadfast husband.
Cate Blanchett won the first award of the night, taking the supporting actress Globe for the Bob Dylan tale "I'm Not There." And like Blanchett, who took the honor for the gender-bending role as one of six actors playing incarnations of Dylan, no other winners were there, either.
Actors and filmmakers skipped the Golden Globes because of the two-month-old strike by the Writers Guild of America, which had planned pickets outside the show if organizers had tried to do their usual televised ceremony. Globe planners and NBC canceled the three-hour star-studded bash in favor of an hour-long news conference at which clips of film and TV nominees were shown and reporters from entertainment news shows announced winners.
Marion Cotillard won for best actress in a musical or comedy for a remarkable personification of singer Edith Piaf in "La Vie En Rose," playing the French icon from youth through middle age and into her ailing final years.
Javier Bardem won for supporting actor in "No Country for Old Men," playing a merciless killer tracking a fortune in crime cash poached by an innocent bystander who stumbles onto a drug deal gone bad. "No Country for Old Men" also won the screenplay prize for writer-directors Ethan and Joel Coen.
The rodent tale "Ratatouille" directed by the Brad Bird, who made Academy Award winner "The Incredibles" was named best animated film.
Among TV recipients, Jeremy Piven won for his supporting role as an acerbic agent in HBO's "Entourage," his first win after three previous nominations. Samantha Morton supporting actress for "Longford."
Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder won the prize for best original song in a movie for "Guaranteed," featured in director Sean Penn's road drama "Into the Wild."
"We all hope that the writers strike will be over soon so that everyone can go back to making good movies and television programs which is what the Golden Globes were designed to celebrate," said Jorge Camara, president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association that hands out the Globes, said at the start of the news conference.
On strike since Nov. 5, the Writers Guild of America refused to let union members work on the star-studded banquet-style show, prompting actors to boycott the ceremony rather than cross picket lines.
Although the guild called off pickets it had planned outside the news conference, the strike left one of Hollywood's brightest and giddiest nights in shambles. Despite the gowns and formal wear, the Globes are known as a freewheeling cousin of the Academy Awards, a place where stars can have a few drinks and cut loose as they celebrate the year's achievements in film and television.
The Beverly Hilton hotel, normally awash with celebrities, was so barren of stars that "Entertainment Tonight" host Mary Hart was surrounded by photographers and TV cameras as she entered the ballroom where the Globes were announced.
A few hours before the show, a dozen non-writer entertainment industry workers stood outside the Beverly Hilton hotel, holding signs asking for the studios and the writers to resume negotiations. The pickets were outnumbered by international television crews, but their protest was greeted by supportive honks from cars speeding by on Santa Monica Boulevard.
The news conference format was a far cry from a ceremony whose star wattage would have been powered by the likes of Julia Roberts, Tom Hanks, George Clooney, Denzel Washington, Blanchett, Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie, who all had acting nominations.
Copies of the traditional glossy program booklet for the 65th annual Globes were still on hand for reporters covering the event. Along with photos of previous winners and past Globe soirees, the program included welcome letters from Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, himself a Globe winner for best acting debut with 1976's "Stay Hungry."
"On behalf of all Californians, I congratulate the nominees on their accomplishments, and I wish all in attendance a memorable night," Schwarzenegger's letter read.
The booklet also featured a four-page spread on the Globes' Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement to Steven Spielberg, an honor that has been postponed until next year.
The fate of Hollywood's biggest night, the Feb. 24 Oscars, remains uncertain. Guild leader Patric Verrone has said writers would not be allowed to work on that show, either, which could force stars to make an even tougher choice on whether to stay away or cross the picket line.
Oscar organizers insist their show will come off as planned, with or without the writers.
With two best-picture categories, the Globes traditionally have had a good shot for one of its movie winners to come away with the top prize at the Oscars. But the Globes have not correctly forecast an Oscar best-picture winner in four years, the last one being "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King."
Writers walked off the job over their share of potential profits from programming on the Internet and other new media.
As a result of their strike, films may not get quite the same box-office bounce they typically receive after winning high-profile prizes, which can add tens of millions of dollars to their haul during the long awards season. Yet actors and writers say tough action is needed to make sure creative people get their fair financial share for the long haul.
"I feel bad for my friends who have movies that would get a lift from a Globe or an Oscar," said Don Cheadle, a past Globe winner and Oscar nominee. "But the Oscar ratings have gone down steadily for the last 10 years. Fewer and fewer people are interested in seeing Hollywood fete itself. For what we're fighting for and what we're trying to achieve, these are the necessary sacrifices."
