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The night's big prize, for best motion picture drama, went to "Argo," a reality-based thriller about the rescue of American diplomats from Iran during its revolution. But the prizes were just half the action, as the room was kept spinning by Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, hosts who pulled no punches.

"When it comes to torture, I trust a lady who spent three years married to James Cameron," Ms. Poehler said as the festivities began. She was referring to the director Kathryn Bigelow, once married to a fellow director, Mr. Cameron, and the blazing controversy around the portrayal of torture in her film "Zero Dark Thirty."

The crowd roared. In truth it was just the sort of crack that has been making this the show to watch if you want to know what those shiny actors and the less glamorous players around them are saying in the snippiest moments. With hosts who had worked together on "Saturday Night Live" and presenters like Will Ferrell, Kristen Wiig and Jonah Hill, irreverence pervaded the atmosphere in the International Ballroom at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

The Globes voters delivered a considerable snub when they bypassed "Lincoln," an awards season favorite, in the best drama category, and the filmmaker behind it, Steven Spielberg, in the directing category.

Ben Affleck, who directed "Argo," won that one, too, though only three days earlier he had been left off the list of Oscar-nominated directors, while Mr. Spielberg made the cut.

When Mr. Affleck won the directing prize late in the show, guests leapt from their seats and gave him perhaps the warmest reception of any winner to that point. And in the banquet room, the buzz around "Argo" was loud — and reminiscent of the outpouring for Jeff Bridges, when a powerful reception at the Golden Globes in 2010 was a prelude to his winning the best actor Oscar for "Crazy Heart."

"Lincoln," a seeming awards-season front-runner, had still won nothing at that point, nor had "Zero Dark Thirty," another top contender.

But Daniel Day-Lewis filled the first gap when he won, very much as expected, as best actor for his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln. He soothed Mr. Spielberg with a tribute, calling him "a humble master, with a quicksilver imagination."

Jessica Chastain then covered the base for "Zero Dark Thirty" when she was named best actress in a motion-picture drama, another expected award, as the show neared its end. Ms. Chastain did not confront the controversy around the film, but chose instead to honor Ms. Bigelow, its director, as a champion of women. "You've done more for women in cinema than you take credit for," she said.

Ultimately, the press association remained true to form, giving something to almost every film among the major contenders, and a little extra to one or two. Hugh Jackman joined Anne Hathaway, for instance, in winning for their performances in "Les Misérables," which was also named best picture in the musical or comedy category.

The cluster of prizes for "Les Misérables" left "Silver Linings Playbook," which competed in the same categories, a bit short.

But Jennifer Lawrence made up for it a bit by winning best actress for her role in "Silver Linings Playbook," delivering a zinger of an acceptance speech, including the evening's requisite snarky quip about Harvey Weinstein, saying, "Harvey, thank you for killing whoever you had to kill to get me up here today."

Among the season's leading contenders, "Life of Pi" suffered one of the biggest rebuffs. It won only for its score, by Mychael Danna, though it had received the second-highest number of nominations, with 11, just behind "Lincoln," in the Oscar race.

Left out completely were a number of highly regarded indie films, including "The Sessions," "Beasts of the Southern Wild," "Hitchcock," "The Impossible" and "Rust and Bone." In the animated feature category, Walt Disney won for its Pixar film "Brave." But the odds were in Disney's favor: Counting "Frankenweenie and "Wreck-It Ralph," it had three of the five animation nominees.

Comic shtick laced the evening, and mostly it worked. Ms. Fey and Ms. Poehler made themselves relatively scarce on the stage. Instead, they dove into the audience, where the camera caught them cuddling with George Clooney, or shuddering with mock anticipation of an award.

Among the tables, Mark Boal, who did not win a screenplay award for "Zero Dark Thirty," gave a big hug to Quentin Tarantino, who did. Mr. Tarantino wore black on black on black — tie, shirt, coat — and put a little outrage in the ceremony as he delivered a slightly profane series of thank-yous to all concerned with his film "Django Unchained."

Ms. Fey got in a zinger at the rival Academy Awards when she told Ms. Hathaway that she had not seen someone so alone "since you were onstage with James Franco at the Oscars," an allusion to the mismatched chemistry Ms. Hathaway and Mr. Franco had as hosts of the 2011 Academy Awards.

No matter: In accepting, she referred to the Globe as a "lovely, blunt object" that she would forever use "as a weapon against self-doubt."

In one of the show's biggest moments, Bill Clinton made a surprise appearance, putting his personal stamp of approval on "Lincoln." "I wouldn't know anything about that," Mr. Clinton joked about the political compromises made in the interest of higher ideals — a theme of Mr. Spielberg's movie.

"I want to thank you for encouraging people to talk more about politics," said the filmmaker Jay Roach in accepting the award for "Game Change," about the 2008 presidential election.

Winners who did not have an issue of some sort at stake were rare birds. Kevin Costner was one. Accepting his award for work in the television show "Hatfields & McCoys," he stuck with a poignant reminiscence about attending his first Globes show, long ago. "No one said anything to me," Mr. Costner said.

A rivalry of sorts cropped up on the television side of the awards between HBO and Showtime. "Game Change," by HBO, earned three awards, for best show in the mini-series or television movie category, and for the acting of Julianne Moore and Ed Harris. But "Homeland," the Showtime series about the pursuit of terrorists, was named best television series drama, while Damian Lewis and Claire Danes won for their acting in that series.

Showtime picked up another award when Don Cheadle won for best actor in "House of Lies." But two wins by Lena Dunham's "Girls" — as best TV series, and for Ms. Dunham's acting — gave HBO five Globe victories to four for Showtime.

Orangey-red was the color of the night for Ms. Lawrence, Ms. Danes and Zooey Deschanel and some others; older actresses like Sally Field and Helen Hunt seemed to favor blue and purple. They all walked the red carpet here on Sunday, shivering in the cold, and doing their part to promote films while keeping the Hollywood awards season trundling along.

Ahead of the show, the center pit of the ballroom was mogul alley. Disney's chief executive, Robert A. Iger, looking dapper in a velvet jacket, schmoozed with News Corporation's chairman, Rupert Murdoch; James N. Gianopulos of 20th Century Fox greeted Rob Friedman, a top movie executive at Lionsgate.

Many of the stars, meanwhile, were found by the bar. Eddie Redmayne of "Les Misérables" joked around with Robert Pattinson; Nicole Kidman and her husband, the singer and "American Idol" host Keith Urban, tried unsuccessfully to make their way to the stairs and instead spotted a shortcut through the tables.

The Globes, bestowed by a group of 84 mostly freelance journalists, are often scrutinized for clues about which people and films will win at the still-to-come Academy Awards. In truth they do not predict much, partly because Globe voters give out two top prizes for movies, one for drama and one for best comedy-musical. Last year "The Descendants" won the drama trophy, while "The Artist" took the equivalent one for comedy-musical; "The Artist" went on to win the best picture Oscar.

The Globes are mostly coveted as marketing tools. Studio advertising executives will immediately roll out new TV commercials, newspaper ads and digital billboards based on the winners.

The victory by Jessica Chastain, for instance, could help Sony Pictures market "Zero Dark Thirty," which was released in almost 3,000 theaters on Friday and had an impressive $24 million in weekend ticket sales. It might also tamp down yet another flare-up around the film's portrayal of torture in the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

On the red carpet beforehand, Ms. Chastain theorized that controversy may have boosted "Zero Dark Thirty" to its strong weekend performance. "Perhaps because everyone's talking about it, they want to be involved in the conversation," she said.

In one of the evening's few moments of free fall, Jodie Foster, receiving the Cecil B. DeMille award, sparkled, rambled and lost sound briefly, perhaps blipped out, just as she was making a remark about her private life. "I am, ah, single," Ms. Foster said after a buildup promising a big revelation. She turned it all into a plea for privacy, and a promise to continue making her mark. "Jodie Foster was here, I still am," she said. "Here's to the next 50 years."