'King's Speech' battles 'Social Network' at the 83rd Oscars
- NEW: Natalie Portman wins the best actress Oscar
- NEW: "King's Speech" takes best director
- "Inception" wins 4th Oscar
- Christian Bale wins best supporting actor for his "Fighter" role
Los Angeles (CNN) -- The best picture Oscar battle Sunday pits the story of a king overcoming a speech impediment to lead his people through World War II against the saga of how a college student created Facebook, which is now credited helping citizens overthrow their leader in the Mideast
But Natalie Portman, who played a ballet dancer in "Black Swan," was awarded the best actress Academy Award. Portman also won Golden Globe and SAG best actor trophies in recent weeks.
Going into the half-hour of the 83rd Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre Sunday night, "The King's Speech" and "The Social Network" were in close Oscar competition. Best actor and best picture categories were yet to be announced.
"King's Speech" director Tom Hooper was given the best director Oscar, but "The Social Network" won for best musical score and film editing.
"The Social Network" won for adapted screenplay, while the original screenplay Oscar went to "The King's Speech" writer David Seidler.
"My father always said to me I would be a late bloomer," Seidler said, noting that at 73 he is the oldest winner ever in the category. "I hope that record is broken quickly and often."
Three other best picture contenders also earned Oscars in the first hour of the show.
Christian Bale repeated his Golden Globe and SAG award wins by taking the best supporting actor Oscar for his role in "The Fighter."
Melissa Leo, who played the mother and manager of two boxers in "The Fighter," completed her trifecta of major awards when 94-year-old Kirk Douglas handed her the best supporting actress Oscar. Leo also won Golden Globe and SAG best actress trophies.
Douglas, who walked with a cane and spoke slowly with slurred speech, managed to upstage Leo with his humor, jokingly delaying reading what was in the envelope. His stand-up routine was rewarded with big laughs.
Leo, whose acceptance speech included a censored expletive, used Douglas's cane to walk off stage.
"Inception, " a film that explores the human mind and dreams, won four Academy Awards, including for cinematography, sound mixing, sound editing and visual effects. The film is also a best picture contender, although most of its eight nominations are in the technical categories.
Two awards went to "Toy Story 3" for animated feature film and best original song. It is also a best picture contender.
"The Lost Thing" won for short animated film.
"True Grit," based on the same book as the 1969 John Wayne film, was nominated 10 times, including Jeff Bridges for best actor, Hailee Steinfeld for best supporting actress and in the best movie competition.
The other four best picture nominees are "Black Swan," "The Kids Are All Right," "127 Hours" and "Winter's Bone."
"Alice in Wonderland," which was not among the 10 best picture nominees, was rewarded Sunday night with two Oscars, for costume design and art direction.
Colin Firth, who portrayed the stuttering King George VI in "The King's Speech," is widely seen as the favorite for best actor. The category's other nominees are Javier Bardem, who starred in "Biutiful," Bridges for "True Grit," Eisenberg for "The Social Network," and James Franco for "127 Hours."
"Inside Job, a film about the 2008 financial system meltdown, won the best feature documentary Oscar. Producer Charles Ferguson used his acceptance speech to say that "not a single financial exective has gone to jail and that's wrong."
The short documentary Oscar went to "Strangers No More, a film about an Israeli school that includes students from 48 countries.
The romantic comedy "God of Love" won the live action short film Oscar.
A Danish movie, "In a Better World," won the best foreign language film Academy Award.
The Oscar for best makeup was given to "The Wolfman."
