It was good to be the king, or the queen, if you were looking for an Oscar this year, as Helen Mirren and Forest Whitaker took home their royally deserved awards early today after an almost unbroken string of earlier awards.

Poor Peter O’Toole, an early favorite whose eight nominations have included a regal role or two, looked like he might have be carried out of the Kodak on a stretcher. He was still looking stunned a couple of awards later.