Craig wins acting prize for Bond

Daniel Craig has been named best actor by the London Evening Standard for his role as James Bond in Casino Royale.

It is the first prize the 38-year-old star, who was nominated for a Bafta last month, has won for his 007 role.

United 93 was named best film, while Borat creator Sacha Baron Cohen won the Peter Sellers award for best comedy.

But Oscar favourite Dame Helen Mirren missed out on another best actress prize for The Queen, the judging panel opting for Dame Judi Dench instead.

The Evening Standard British Film Awards were announced on Sunday at a celebratory dinner held at The Ivy restaurant in central London.

Outspoken

Dame Judi was honoured for her role as a vindictive schoolteacher in Notes on a Scandal, which has just been released in British cinemas.

But royal drama The Queen did not go away empty-handed, winning prizes for its director Stephen Frears and screenwriter Peter Morgan.

Frears was given the Alexander Walker Special Award - named after the outspoken Evening Standard critic who died in 2003 - for "making British film reverberate around the world".

Morgan was also honoured for his work on The Last King of Scotland, for which actor Forest Whitaker has been Oscar-nominated.

Paul Andrew Williams was named most promising newcomer for his direction of low-budget thriller London to Brighton.

BBC