The Academy Awards won't be presented until March, but the first Oscar statuettes of the season were being handed out Saturday night at a private, black-tie dinner in Hollywood. Actress Lauren Bacall, producer-director Roger Corman and cinematographer Gordon Willis each received Oscar statuettes at the inaugural Governors Awards event. The winner of this year's Irving J. Thalberg Memorial Award, producer John Calley, also received his trophy at the star-studded dinner. Each of the four recipients were chosen by the academy's Board of Governors. Annette Bening, Tom Hanks, Kirk Douglas, Anjelica Huston and Quentin Tarantino signed on as presenters for the evening, which included 600 invited guests celebrating at the Grand Ballroom above the Kodak Theatre, the same room where the annual post-Academy Awards Governors Ball is held. Morgan Freeman, Alec Baldwin, Steven Spielberg and other guests were serenaded by a violin quartet before the ceremony began in a room decked out in bronze and silver curtains with a giant Oscar statue at the center.
