Memorable Oscar Moments

The record for the longest Oscar acceptance speech is still held by Greer Garson, accepting the best actress award for Mrs Miniver in 1943.

Despite the late hour - it was after 1am and the last award to be handed out - Garson, the star of the WWII drama - said "I'm practically unprepared" and launched into a speech that seemed to last as long as the war itself.

Taking in the "arbitrary nature of awards" as well as a ramble about ants on set (yes, really) , she droned on for seven minutes (45 seconds is now the maximum) with presenter Joan Fontaine actually opting to take a seat.

Garson never won an Oscar again.

After Garson, director Dickie Attenborough, picking up a gong for Gandhi, went on and on, suggesting "we should examine the criteria by which we judge the manner of solving our problems. That surely in the 20th century, we human beings, searching for our human dignity, could find other ways of ultimately solving our problems."

And rest.