Ledger, Crowe in Golden Globe running

Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman portrays author Truman Capote in the drama film "Capote".

Will the Golden Globe go to the gay cowboy, the starving boxer with a big heart or the American literary great?

Heath Ledger, Russell Crowe and roly-poly New York art house actor Philip Seymour Hoffman battle for the Golden Globes best dramatic actor award in Beverly Hills in what is a significant test run for the March 5 Academy Awards.

The winner will not only have an impressive Globe trophy to place in their trophy cabinet, but will likely emerge as the favourite in the actor's race for the March 5 Oscars ceremony.

Ledger, probably still a little damp after being sprayed by paparazzi armed with water pistols at the Sydney premiere of Brokeback Mountain, has flown to Los Angeles for the Globes ceremony with girlfriend Michelle Williams.

Williams has also been nominated, in the best supporting category, for Brokeback Mountain.

The Globes are decided by about 80 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

Despite the small number of Globes voters - the Oscars from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have about 6,000 voters and the Screen Actors Guild Awards have more than 100,000 voters - the Globes are considered a key indicator for the Oscars.

Oscar pundits, including Los Angeles Times columnist and awards expert Tom O'Neil, believe Ledger and Crowe need to win to have a chance of claiming the Oscar.

Hoffman has the early momentum after winning most of the other lead-up awards for his portrayal of American literary great Truman Capote in the independent film, Capote.

"Philip Seymour Hoffman is an art house darling and he nailed Capote so perfectly," O'Neil told AAP.

"What is so impressive about Brokeback is Heath's deeply felt suffering and anguish that really comes through on the screen."

O'Neil has tipped Hoffman to win the Globe.

Bookmakers agree.

Hoffman is the outright favourite at 8/11, while Ledger, who plays a gay Wyoming ranch hand in Brokeback, is on the second line of betting at 7/4.

The other nominees are given little chance, with Terrence Howard, for his performance in Hustle and Flow, and David Strathairn in Good Night, And Good Luck, equal third at 10/1.

New Zealand-born Crowe, for his demanding performance as struggling 1930s heavyweight boxing champion and devoted family man James Braddock in Cinderella Man, is the outsider at 12/1.

In past years Australians have filled both the film and TV categories at the Globes, but this year Australia's other hopes - Eric Bana (Munich), Geoffrey Rush (Munich), Naomi Watts (King Kong), Anthony LaPaglia (Without a Trace) and Julian McMahon (Nip/Tuck) - were all snubbed by Globes voters.

The Globes best actress in a film drama category nominees are: Maria Bello (A History of Violence), Felicity Huffman (Transamerica), Gwyneth Paltrow (Proof), Charlize Theron (North Country) and Ziyi Zhang (Memoirs of a Geisha).

The hit TV drama Desperate Housewives received the most nominations of any TV show with five.

The show's four leads - Marcia Cross, Felicity Huffman, Eva Longoria and Teri Hatcher - filled up four of the five nominations for best actress in a comedy-musical TV series. Mary-Louis Parker, from the new TV series Weeds, filled the fifth slot.

- AAP