"Slumdog" sweeps to Golden Globe victory

By Bob Tourtellotte

BEVERLY HILLS (Reuters) - Low-budget movies blew by their major studio rivals at the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday as romance "Slumdog Millionaire" won a leading four honors, including best drama to give it a push in the race for Oscars.

"Slumdog," which tells of a young Indian man looking for love and competing for money on a television game show, also earned awards for director Danny Boyle, screenwriter Simon Beaufoy and composer A.R. Rahman for best musical score.

Boyle thanked the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which gives out the Golden Globe Awards, for supporting his movie that captures the frenetic pace of life in Mumbai.

"Your mad, pulsating affection for our film is much appreciated, really deeply appreciated," Boyle said. "The film was made from the heart, really. We never expected to be here."

In other major honors, director Woody Allen's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" was named best film musical or comedy but Allen was not on hand to accept the award.

A big surprise of the night came when Kate Winslet grabbed two Golden Globes, only the third time in the history of the awards that one performer has won two acting awards.

She claimed the trophy for best actress in a drama for her role as a frustrated housewife in "Revolutionary Road" and the second for best supporting actress for playing a German woman with a hidden past in "The Reader."

"It's just unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable. It's not supposed to happen," Winslet said backstage about her wins.

Comeback kid Mickey Rourke, whose career had fallen on hard times, won best actor in a film drama with "The Wrestler."

"It's been a very long road back for me," Rourke said.

OSCAR WATCH

The Golden Globe Awards are given out by some 90 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and are closely watched for clues as to which films might vie for Oscars, the world's top movie awards, which are given in February by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

While major studio films "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and "Frost/Nixon" certainly will compete for Oscars, "Slumdog" pushed past its two key rivals at the Golden Globes.

"Vicky Cristina Barcelona" and "Revolutionary Road" also came from independent distributors and companies operating in the market for independent movies.

Likewise, Colin Farrell took home the Golden Globe for best actor in a musical or comedy with his role as a hitman in "In Bruges." Sally Hawkins was best actress in the same group for her work as an optimistic teacher in "Happy-Go-Lucky." Again, they were two movies made for art-house theaters.