Oscar Comes Early for Lauren Bacall, Roger Corman & Gordon Willis

In an effort to shake up tradition, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences distributes honorary statuettes months before main ceremony

There's nothing like an Oscar to kick off the holiday season.

Iconic actress Lauren Bacall, B-movie maven Roger Corman and Godfather cinematographer Gordon Willis all picked up golden guys Saturday night at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Governors Awards.

The Academy broke the tradition of its March on-camera distribution of honorary awards, and instead held an off-camera, black-tie banquet for the trio at the Grand Ballroom above the Kodak Theatre. 

Producer John Calley, famed for The Da Vinci Code and Catch-22 among other films, was also honored with the Irving J. Thalberg Memorial Award.

The recipients were cheered on by a megawatt crowd that included Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Tom Hanks, Jack Nicholson, Kirk Douglas, Ron Howard, Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Morgan Freeman, Jeff Bridges, Quentin Tarantino, Anjelica Huston and Alec Baldwin, who will cohost the 82nd Annual Academy Awards ceremony with Steve Martin on March 7.