Gwyneth Patrow: Weeps on stage

Gwyneth Paltrow: Best Actress, Shakespeare in Love
Paltrow gave the most emotional speech of the entire ceremony, thanking as many people as she could remember and tearfully mentioning deceased members of her family.

"I don't feel very deserving of this in your presence," she said naming her fellow nominees.

"I would not have been able to play this role if I didn't understand love and for that I thank my family.

"I would like to thank my agent, who is a good agent and a wonderful man, and that is not an oxymoron."

Roberto Benigni: "I want to kiss everybody"

Roberto Benigni: Best Foreign Film, Life is Beautiful
When collecting his first Oscar Benigni said: "This is a moment of joy, and I want to kiss everybody. I feel like now, really, to dive in this ocean of generosity.

"I would like to thank my parents for giving me the greatest gift... of poverty."

But only a short time later Benigni was awarded another gong for Best Actor also for Life is Beautiful."This is a terrible mistake because I have used up all my English. I am not able to express all my gratitude. My body is in tumult..." he said.

Despite confusing vocabulary, Benigni did his best to express his surprise and joy at becoming the first performer in a foreign language film to win the best actor award.

" I would like to be Jupiter in the firmament... lying down and making love to everybody.

"This is something I cannot forget from the bottom of heart.

"Really, I don't deserve this, but I hope to win some other Oscars."

Steven Spielberg thanks his father

Steven Spielberg, Best Director, Saving Private RyanAccepting the award for best director, Spielberg said: "Am I allowed to say I really wanted this?"

He added: "What I'd like to do is just thank very, very sincerely the families who lost sons during World War II. . .all the families who incurred the tremendous losses during this war."

He said that making the film was "one of the most extraordinary events of all of our lives and the lives of all of our families,"and thanked his wife for "letting me be neurotic at home."

Thanking his father, who was sitting in the audience, Spielberg said: "thank you for showing me that there is honour in looking back and respecting the past."

Judi Dench: "My heart goes out to the other four"

Dame Judi Dench, Best Supporting Actress, Shakespeare in Love:
"I appear for eight minutes (in the film) I should only get a little bit of him," she said, clutching her Oscar.

"My heart goes out to other four who didn't win."

Referring to her role as Queen Elizabeth I and last year's nomination for playing Queen Victoria in Mrs Brown, she said: "There aren't any more queens to play, just Bodicea with one breast."

Backstage she said: "I think I'm basically a realist. I didn't for a second think that eight minutes worth off somebody was worth an Oscar.

"You try and work from the guts out and know everything you can about that person and ostensibly try and become them as much as you can

" I was incredibly helped by the makeup, which took longer than the film."

James Coburn: "I finally got one right"

James Coburn, Best Supporting Actor, Affliction:
"I've been doing this work for like over half my life, and I finally got one right, I guess.

"Some of them you do for money, some of them you do for love. This is a love child."

Norman F Jewison: Thalberg Award:
Over the year Norman Jewison's films have earned 45 Academy Award nominations and more than 10 Oscars, including a best picture award for the 1967 film In the Heat of the Night.

"It's not like winning the Nobel prize, There's no money attached. But if there were I would share it with young film-makers.

"My advice to young film-makers is just to find some really good stories."

Kazan receives his award from Martin Scorsese

Elia Kazan, Honorary Award:
Protestors outside the Academy objected to the lifetime achievement award for Kazan because of his actions during the 1950s when he admitted that several colleagues were members of the Communist Party.

The frail director of classic films such as On the Waterfront said: "I want to thank the Academy for its courage and generosity. I want to thank you all very much." Then he said: "I think I can just slip away now."