Without the burden of a live worldwide broadcast, members of the film academy threw themselves a lively yet relaxed dinner party to honor the first Oscar winners of the season.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences broke with tradition and presented its honorary Oscars off-camera Saturday night in Los Angeles, months ahead of the televised ceremony in March.

Actress Lauren Bacall, B-movie king Roger Corman and cinematographer Gordon Willis each received Oscar statuettes during the banquet at the Grand Ballroom above the Kodak Theatre, the same room where the annual post-Academy Awards Governors Ball is held.

In addition, producer John Calley was honored with the Irving J. Thalberg Memorial Award, recognizing career accomplishments that include “Catch-22,” “The Remains of the Day” and “The Da Vinci Code.”

Tom Hanks, Jack Nicholson, Annette Bening, Morgan Freeman and Steven Spielberg were among the 600 invited guests at the inaugural Governors Awards event.

Guests drank Champagne and dined on filet mignon as each honoree was celebrated with tributes, toasts and a generous montage of film clips – leisurely elements not possible in previous years when special-Oscar presentations were built into the already-crowded Oscar broadcast.

Bacall made her screen debut with Humphrey Bogart in “To Have and Have Not” in 1944. She went on to star in more than 30 films, including classics such as “The Big Sleep” and “Key Largo.”

Corman has directed more than 50 films and produced more than 300, including “It Conquered the World” and 1960’s “The Little Shop of Horrors.” Willis is a two-time Academy Award nominee for “Zelig” and “The Godfather, Part III.”