‘Forrest Gump,’ Hanks Win Top Golden Globe Awards : Ceremony: Other winners include Jessica Lange for her dramatic role in ‘Blue Sky’ and ‘The Lion King’ for best comedy or musical.

“Forrest Gump,” the saga of a simple country boy who does amazing things, collected top honors at the Golden Globe Awards on Saturday night, scoring in the dramatic film category for actor Tom Hanks, director Robert Zemeckis and as best dramatic picture.

Jessica Lange was a surprise winner of the best dramatic actress award as the angry Army wife in “Blue Sky.” The film had a limited release and even the star called it “a strange and peculiar little film.”

Hanks won the Golden Globes for the second year in a row; he was honored last year for “Philadelphia” and went on to win an Academy Award as best actor.

“In October of 1993, we shot 27 days straight in 11 states and two nations; that’s a lot of overtime,” Hanks said in acknowledging the hard work of co-stars and crew in making the movie.

The animated box-office hit “The Lion King” won for best comedy or musical picture, while Hugh Grant and Jamie Lee Curtis picked up trophies for best comedy performances.

“It’s tragic how much I’m enjoying getting this. Virtually uncool,” Grant, who played the elusive bachelor of “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” said in his acceptance speech. “You’re supposed to think awards are invidious, but this is heaven.”

Curtis, the would-be spy of “True Lies,” came to the stage of the International Ballroom at the Beverly Hilton Hotel and thanked director James Cameron for “letting me hang from a helicopter on my 35th birthday.”

“Farinelli,” a Belgian-made movie about a famous castrated soprano, won best foreign language film in the Golden Globes, the awards ceremony of the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn.

Quentin Tarantino received a Golden Globe for his screenplay of “Pulp Fiction.” In his acceptance speech, he saluted the actors: “I really liked the script I wrote. They took it so far beyond that.”

“Forrest Gump” and “Pulp Fiction” are the top contenders for best picture at the Academy Awards. The Golden Globes is traditionally the first major awards show of the season and often a bellwether of the Oscars.

Diane Wiest, who played the flamboyant Broadway actress in Woody Allen’s “Bullets Over Broadway,” won best supporting actress in a drama. Martin Landau, who played horror star Bela Lugosi in “Ed Wood,” got best supporting actor.

Sophia Loren won a standing ovation as she was honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award for service to filmmaking. It was presented by Charlton Heston, her co-star in “El Cid,” and Robert Altman, her director from the recent “Ready to Wear.”

In the television awards, the Fox Television science fiction series “The X-Files,” Dennis Franz of ABC’s “N.Y.P.D. Blue” and teen-ager Claire Danes of ABC’s “My So-Called Life” took top dramatic honors.

The comedy series award was a tie between “Frasier” and “Mad About You,” both on NBC. Tim Allen of ABC’s “Home Improvement” and Helen Hunt of “Mad About You” won for best comedy actors.

“The Burning Season,” the HBO drama about the murder of Brazilian rubber-tapper Chico Mendez, won best made-for-television movie, and its star, the late Raul Julia, won for best actor in a television movie. Julia died Oct. 24 after a stroke in New York at age 54.

Joanne Woodward was named best actress in a television movie for “Breathing Lessons--A Hallmark Hall of Fame Presentation.”

This year, TV’s John Larroquette and Janine Turner (“Northern Exposure”) played host to the ceremonies, broadcast live on TBS.