PlayDaniel Day-Lewis and Tilda Swinton maintained Britain's love affair with the Oscars but it was the Coen brothers, though, who bagged the biggest prizes thanks to No Country for Old Men.
The gritty adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel won the eccentric duo Best Motion Picture, alongside producer Scott Rudin, together with Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for Joel and Ethan.
Earlier on in the evening, the Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role gong was unveiled by last year's Supporting Actress winner Jennifer Hudson to Spaniard Javier Bardem.
The former Best Actor nominee, pipped Casey Affleck, Philip Seymour Hoffman, veteran Hal Holbrook and Brit Tom Wilkinson due to his creepy turn as a hitman in the Coen brothers latest film.
Bardem said: "Wow. This is pretty amazing. A great honour to get this. Thanks to the Coens for putting one of the most horrible haircuts in history on my head. I want to dedicate this to my mother."
Last year's Best Actor winner Forest Whitaker was given the honour of handing out the Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role statuette to Bafta winner Marion Cotillard for her stunning turn as Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose.
The Frenchwoman, who saw off Julie Christie, Ellen Page, Cate Blanchett and Laura Linney, enthused: "Members of the Academy thank you so, so much. I'm speechless now. It is true, there are some angels in this city."
Director Brad Bird delivered an amusing acceptance speech for the popular animated winner Ratatouille, which revolved around his early verbal sparring with his junior high guidance counsellor.
Bird, who also won in 2004 for The Incredibles, edged out French film Persepolis and Sony Pictures contender Surf's Up that boasted the vocal talents of Shia LaBeouf and Jeff Bridges.
Former stripper Diablo Cody, the hot new screenwriter in Hollywood, walked off with Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen on the back of her sparkling script for independent comedy smash Juno.
As expected, The Counterfeiters (Die Fälscher) became the first Austrian movie to win the Best Foreign Language Film ahead of Beaufort (Israel), Katyn (Poland), Mongol (Kazakhstan) and 12 (Russia).
Cinematographer Robert Elswit got his hands on Oscar with his second nomination thanks to his breathtaking camera work on There Will Be Blood, however it wasn't enough for the film to pip No Country for Old Men to the big prize.
