BAFTA/LA salutes Britain, U.S. ties

Kirk Douglas, Colin Firth among night's honorees

By SHALINI DORE

Colin Firth and Tom Ford get with the program at the BAFTA/LA kudos.

Emily Blunt and Amy Adams at the Century Plaza Hotel.

BAFTA/LA's Britannia Awards saluted the connection between Britain and the U.S. as much as it did the honorees Thursday at the Century Plaza Hotel.

Emcee Stephen Fry tapped his Jewish side to offer Yiddish pronunciations for such words as "Baftala."

Honoree Kirk Douglas , accepting the trophy for his contribution to film from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, launched into the song "Maybe It's Because I'm a Londoner."

After watching clips from his pics, "Slumdog Millionaire" helmer Danny Boyle said, "Britain's my inspiration for toilets, I'll try not to do anymore, I promise."

Robert De Niro, to whom Ben Stiller presented the Stanley Kubrick kudo, said he always felt like an Englishman, and then recited the lines from "Taxi Driver" in a very proper BBC accent, "I say, are you talking to me?"

Growing serious, he talked about "what is left of the great company Miramax," which is releasing his film "Everybody's Fine."

Earlier, Minnie Driver presented the humanitarian award to fellow thesp Colin Firth ("Being so handsome, he does make the world a better place") while Amy Adams did the honors for Emily Blunt, who said she was pleased but baffled "to be honored on the same night as Robert De Niro."