Multi-lingual drama "Babel" has shared top honors with veteran director Martin Scorsese at the Golden Globes as musical "Dreamgirls" laid down a marker for next month's Oscars.

Hollywood's royalty turned out in force for a glittering Beverly Hills ceremony that saw "Babel" crowned best picture while veteran film-maker Scorsese was honored with best director for his hard-hitting "The Departed."

Both films are seen as front-runners for the Academy Awards in Hollywood on February 25, but each will expect a strong challenge from "Dreamgirls," the musical about a 1960s soul trio loosely based on The Supremes.

"Dreamgirls" walked away with three major honors, winning best supporting actor and actress awards for Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson respectively.

It also won best picture in the musical or comedy category and now seems certain to earn an Oscar nod when the Academy Award best picture nominations are revealed on January 23.

"Babel's" Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu received the best picture award from California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who appeared on crutches to give the final prize of the night at the Beverly Hilton.

"I swear I have my papers in order governor, I swear," Inarritu quipped, a reference to his harrowing film, which touches on immigration border issues between the United States and Mexico.

"Babel" weaves together the lives of four families on three continents who become linked by a single shot fired from a rifle in the mountains of Morocco.

"It seems that no matter how many languages you make a film in, I think the power of cinema is universal and at the end emotion doesn't need translation and that's the beauty of it," Inarritu said.

Earlier Scorsese picked up his second Golden Globe gong in four years following his victory in 2003 for "Gangs of New York."

The creator of such cinematic landmarks as "Taxi Driver," "Raging Bull" and "Goodfellas" has been nominated five times for an Oscar and never won but is seen as favorite for the directors prize this year.

"Oh, my," Scorsese said, before saluting Jack Nicholson for his work on "The Departed," his first collaboration with the actor. "What a time we had."

In the acting categories, British veteran Helen Mirren scored a notable double, winning two Golden Globes for her portrayal of Queens Elizabeth I and Elizabeth II in separate productions.

Mirren is considered the overwhelming favorite for best actress at the Oscars for playing Elizabeth II in "The Queen," a fictionalized account of life in the royal household following the 1997 death of Princess Diana.

Mirren dedicated her award to the British monarch.

"In 1952 a woman called Elizabeth Windsor at the age of 25 walked into literally the role of a lifetime and I honestly feel this award belongs to her because I think you fell in love with her not with me," Mirren said.

The best actor in a drama role went as expected to Forest Whitaker, beating out stiff challenges from Peter O'Toole and Leonardo DiCaprio, with his portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland."

An emotional Whitaker choked back tears as he told the audience: "It means a lot to me."

The biggest laughs of the night came from British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, winner of the best comedy actor award for his film, "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan."

The spoof documentary sees Cohen play a blundering Kazakh journalist traveling through the American heartland in search of cultural enlightenment.

A hit at the box-office, it has courted controversy however with some participants taking legal action claiming they were duped into appearing.

The satire is also notable for some hair-raising nude wrestling scenes between Cohen and his co-star Ken Davitian.

"This movie was a life-changing experience," Cohen said. "I saw some dark sides of America. I refer to the anus and testicles of my co-star Ken Davitian.

"Ken, when I was in that scene and I stared down and saw your two, wrinkled golden globes on my chin, I thought to myself, 'I better win a bloody award for this.'"

Other winners on Monday included screen legends Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood, whose war epic "Letters from Iwo Jima" scooped up the best foreign-language film prize.

The 57-year-old Streep won the sixth Golden Globe award of her career for her portrayal of an icy fashion magazine editor in the hit comedy "The Devil Wears Prada."

"Thank you so much," Streep said. "I'm really thrilled, I think I've worked with everybody in the room!"

Eastwood, meanwhile, praised actor Ken Watanabe for his performance in "Letters from Iwo Jima," which was made in Japanese and is one of back-to-back films shot by the director about the battle for Iwo Jima in World War II.

"You don't know what this does for my confidence," quipped Eastwood.

Eastwood's movie is not eligible for the foreign language prize at the Oscars but it is considered a possible contender in the best movie category.

Organized by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the Golden Globes are seen as a key barometer of likely contenders for the Oscars.

(Agencies via CRI January 16, 2007)