Ron Howard takes Directors Guild award for 'Beautiful Mind'

LOS ANGELES - The Directors Guild of America handed former child TV star Ron Howard its award for best film director of 2001 for the psychological drama "A Beautiful Mind" as the countdown to Hollywood's highest film honours, the Oscars, continued here on Saturday.

With two weeks to go before the Oscars, which will be given out by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on March 24, Howard nabbed the best director award from the directors guild, which establishes him as the front-runner to nab the Oscar for best director this year.

Since 1949, when the Directors Guild of America first gave out an honour for top film director, all but five winners of best director of a movie have gone on to claim the Oscar.

More important, the Oscar winner for best director almost always sees his film claim the Academy Award for best motion picture. So Howard and "Beautiful Mind," in which Russell Crowe portrays genius mathematician John Forbes Nash, Jr. through a lifelong struggle with schizophrenia, are now the front-runners for the best picture Oscar.

Or, so it seems.

This year, the Oscar race has been wide open, and another of this year's nominees for best film, "Moulin Rouge," claimed Hollywood's producer guild award last week for this year's top motion picture.

Moreover, critics awards have been split between "Mind," "Rouge" and the three other nominees for best picture "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," "Gosford Park" and "In the Bedroom."

Next up on the Oscar watch is today's Screen Actors Guild awards, which will honour motion picture actors and actresses.

Highlighting this year's Oscar race was last year's DGA winner, Ang Lee, who claimed the award for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" only to see Steven Soderbergh win the Oscar for "Traffic" and "Gladiator" take home the Oscar for best motion picture.

"One last piece of advice," Lee offered before opening the envelope to reveal this year's winner, " don't get over confident at the Oscars."

Howard, a lifelong member of Hollywood's "A" list, child television star and teen sensation on 1970s hit sitcom "Happy Days," said he was a little surprised at claiming best honours among a wide open field at the DGA awards.

"I didn't think I was going to win, so I didn't prepare a speech," Howard said.

He then acknowledged his competition -- Baz Luhrmann for "Moulin Rouge," Peter Jackson for "Rings," Ridley Scott for action film "Black Hawk Down" and Christopher Nolan for independent hit "Memento" -- and said "it was a tough selection."

Earlier in the evening, Howard paid tribute to the rest of the people who worked on the story that attempts to give viewers a glimpse inside a schizophrenic's mind.

He thanked his business partner and producer, Brian Grazer, writer Akiva Goldsman and co-star Jennifer Connelly and Crowe, whom he singled out for his work playing Nobel Laureate Nash.

"The effectiveness of Beautiful Mind' cannot be separated from the effectiveness and power of Russell Crowe's performance," Howard said.

Elsewhere among the top award winners at the DGA's ceremony on Saturday were Frank Pierson, who was named best director for a made for television movie for HBO's "Conspiracy."

Alan Ball was named best director of a television drama for HBO's "Six Feet Under," and Todd Holland claimed the honor of best director for a television comedy series for "Malcolm in the Middle."

- REUTERS

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Oscar nominees (full list)