The 83rd Academy Awards got started with a little old, and a little new.
Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas brought down the house as he announced the Best Supporting Actress Oscar had gone to Melissa Leo in "The Fighter."
"You're much more beautiful than you were in 'The Fighter," Douglas joked.
Melissa Leo won for her role as the domineering matriarch of a boxing family in "The Fighter." Some in Hollywood had speculated that Leo might have undermined her Oscar chances with self-promoting ads she ran in film trade papers, but in the end, Leo prevailed.
FULL COVERAGE: The 83rd Academy Awards.
And she wouldn't be the night's only Oscar winner from the heralded David O. Russell Film. Christian Bale followed her with a Best Supporting Actor win.
Bale joked that he was keeping his language clean in his acceptance speech.
"Melissa, I'm not going to drop the F-bomb like she did," Bale said. "I've done that plenty of times before."
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Leo had been bleeped out earlier during her own acceptance speech. Backstage, she conceded it was "probably a very inappropriate place to use that particular word."
Bale earned the same prize his Batman co-star, the late Heath Ledger, received posthumously two years ago for "The Dark Knight." At the time, Bale had fondly recalled a bit of professional envy as he watched Ledger perform on set like a whirlwind as the diabolical Joker while the film's star had to remain clenched up as the stoic, tightly wound Batman.
The night began with a spirited performance from the night's young, famous, much-debated hosts, Anne Hathaway and James Franco. The couple were engaging in their all-important Oscar introductory montage playing off of scenes from the night's nominated films in a send-up of the film "Inception."
They also poked fun at themselves. Hathaway joked that Franco was doing well appealing to "a younger demographic," while she rued the fact that she had gotten naked in "Love and Other Drugs," yet hadn't been nominated.
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"Toy Story 3" won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, while the Lewis Carroll update "Alice in Wonderland" won the night's first prize, claiming the art direction Oscar over a field including best-picture favorite "The King's Speech."
"The King's Speech," dramatizing British ruler George VI's struggle to vanquish a crippling stammer, led the 83rd annual Oscars with 12 nominations and was favored to win best picture.
Yet "The Social Network," chronicling Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's legal battles over the spoils of his creation, remained a serious candidate.
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The two films led a strong and varied field of best-picture contenders since they debuted nearly six months ago. "The Social Network" was the early leader, grabbing key critics' honors and winning best drama at the Golden Globes. Momentum shifted to "The King's Speech" as the film dominated on Oscar nominations morning and swept top awards from influential actors, directors and producers guilds.
The streets around the Kodak Theatre were jammed with curious fans on a brisk but sunny California afternoon. It was the perfect afternoon to trot out the furs and faux furs that are rarely worn in Los Angeles with its balmy climate -- forecasters called for temperatures in the low 50s at show time. On one side red carpet were bleachers packed with stargazers; on other, TV crews and reporters jostled for space, and seat fillers lined up behind metal detectors to enter the secure red carpet area. The host committee stood awaiting the arrival of the first stars, clutching omnipresent iPhones.
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Also up for best picture at the ceremony: the psychosexual thriller "Black Swan"; the boxing drama "The Fighter"; the sci-fi blockbuster "Inception"; the lesbian-family tale "The Kids Are All Right"; the survival chronicle "127 Hours"; the animated comedy "Toy Story 3"; the Western "True Grit"; and the Ozarks crime story "Winter's Bone."
With TV ratings on a general decline over the last few decades, Oscar organizers doubled the best-picture category from five to 10 films last year, hoping to spice up the show and bring in a broader range of films. Academy overseers also have tried to liven up the show with fresh hosts, new routines and different ways of presenting awards.
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It paid off last year, when the low-budget Iraq War drama "The Hurt Locker" beat sci-fi behemoth "Avatar" for best picture. TV viewers totaled 41.7 million, up 15 percent from the previous year and the biggest Oscar audience in five years.
They also stepped up pressure for winners to keep speeches short and sharp, rather than intone long thank-you lists.
- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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