King's Speech wins trio of awards

 11 May 2011 Last updated at 18:30 ET  Geoffrey Rush co-starred in The King's Speech with Colin Firth, who was unable to attend the ceremony British movie The King's Speech was the big winner at this year's National Movie Awards winning three prizes.

The multiple Oscar-winning film won best drama, beating Black Swan, 127 Hours and The Social Network.

It also received the special recognition prize and Colin Firth was named winner of the best performance category for his role in the film.

There were also two awards for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at the London ceremony.

The last and final book in the series about the boy wizard was split into two parts, which saw the first one released last year.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I won the award for best fantasy, beating Gulliver's Travels, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and TRON: Legacy.

The second part of the blockbuster, starring Daniel Radcliffe, was named must see movie of the summer.

Screen icon

Jamie Campbell Bower walked away with the one to watch prize. The actor could be seen in the last Harry Potter movie playing Gellert Grindelwald and also starred in Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in 2007.

Nick Frost and Simon Pegg picked up an award for the third film they have made together

Veteran singer Dame Shirley Bassey presented the best drama prize telling the audience that she loved "films with drama" which was why people called her a "drama queen".

Geoffrey Rush, who played therapist Lionel Logue in The King's Speech, was joined on stage to pick up the award by director Tom Hooper and producers Iain Canning and Gareth Unwin.

Referring to Prince William's recent nuptials, he joked: "I've often felt the film was like a royal wedding between a monarch and an Aussie, and it also felt like we had two billion viewers."

The star later returned to the stage to pick up the screen icon award for his Pirates Of The Caribbean co-star Johnny Depp.

"Johnny Depp is so cool, he can come to rehearsal in a crazed blouse with a bit of mismatched jewellery and he looks hip. If I did that, I'd look like my mother," Rush said.

'Important opinion'

Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow said she was "truly delighted" to present the special recognition award to The King's Speech.

The star described it as a "simple story, beautifully told and perfectly played".

Continue reading the main story Drama - The King's Speech Comedy - Paul Fantasy - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I Animation - Tangled Must See Movie Of The Summer - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II Performance of the Year - Colin Firth (The King's Speech) One To Watch: Jamie Campbell Bower Screen Icon - Johnny Depp Special Recognition - The King's Speech Freya Wilson and Ramona Marquez, the young actresses who played Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret in the film, were called upon to accept Firth's best performance prize on behalf of the actor, who was away filming.

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's movie Paul was named best comedy, beating Little Fockers, Due Date and Just Go With It.

The Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz stars teamed up for their third film to tell the story about a runaway alien.

Collecting the trophy on stage, Pegg said: "This means a lot to us, because it's voted for by people who go and see films and that surely has to be the most important opinion of all."

Frost dedicated the award to his father and his "lush wife".

Tangled, which features the voices of Mandy Moore, was named best animation, beating competition from Megamind, Gnomeo & Juliet and Despicable Me.

Daybreak presenter Christine Bleakley hosted the awards, which were broadcast live on ITV1 from London's Wembley Arena.

Take That opened the ceremony and there were also performances from Eliza Doolittle and JLS.