Russell Crowe's drama about schizophrenia, A Beautiful Mind, and musical Moulin Rouge have dominated the 59th Golden Globes film and television awards ceremony in Los Angeles.

A Beautiful Mind won four awards, including best dramatic film and best dramatic actor for leading man Crowe.

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Moulin Rouge won the award for best film musical or comedy, and its star Nicole Kidman took the honour for best actress in a film musical.

The prizes - the second most important in Hollywood - are seen by some as an indicator of possible winners of the Oscars - and draw the biggest names in US cinema and television.

They are chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, whose members represent the media in 55 countries around the world.

In Moulin Rouge, Kidman plays a singer at the famous Paris nightclub who carries on an ill-fated love affair with a struggling writer, played by Ewan McGregor - who was himself up for a best actor award.

Kidman: Never thought she would be in a musical

A Beautiful Mind tells the story of Princeton mathematician John Nash, who won a Nobel prize for economics after spending years battling mental illness.

Nominations

Moulin Rouge's Craig Armstrong also won the award for best original musical score, while A Beautiful Mind picked up awards for best screenplay, for Akiva Goldsman, and best supporting actress, for Jennifer Connelly.

The films were each nominated for six awards.

"I never thought I'd be in a musical, let alone win an award for one," Kidman said as she accepted her award.

Jim Broadbent: Best supporting actor

Robert Altman - famous for M*A*S*H and Nashville - won the best director award for his work on the murder-mystery satire Gosford Park, which chronicles the scandals of aristocrats through the eyes of their servants.

Altman's was the only triumph in the Gosford Park camp - the film had been nominated for four other awards.

Accepting the award, he said a best director was merely "someone who stands in the same space with the best actors".

Sissy Spacek: Best dramatic actress

Altman said. "I feel that they do the work and I get to watch - and nothing is better than that."

Sissy Spacek won best dramatic actress for the dark drama In the Bedroom.

British successes

Veteran actor Gene Hackman was named best actor in a comedy film for his performance in The Royal Tenenbaums.

Britain's Jim Broadbent was one of the earliest award-winners named - as best supporting actor for his performance opposite Dame Judi Dench in the film Iris.

Broadbent won the award for his role as John Bayley, the husband of British writer and philosopher Iris Murdoch.

Altman won best director for Gosford Park

The winner in the film song category was Sting, for his romantic waltz entitled Until, from the comedy Kate & Leopold.

Jennifer Connelly was best supporting actress for her role in A Beautiful Mind.

The Cecil B DeMille award for a lifetime's achievement went to Harrison Ford.

"Sit down, please - I'm too old to wait," Ford, 59, told the audience, which had given him a standing ovation.

Oscar tips

Sex and the City won the award for best television comedy.

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The Golden Globes mark a key step in the movie awards season, coming two weeks after the inaugural American Film Institute Awards and two months before the Oscars.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has a good track record of choosing Oscar winners, such as Titanic, American Beauty and Gladiator.

But some pundits say the Globes judges simply align themselves with what are seen as the Oscars' front-runners.