Clint Eastwood’s ‘Million Dollar Baby’ triumphs at 77th Oscars

Hilary Swank holds aloft her Oscar for Best Actress for her performance in the film “Million Dollar Baby,” as she arrives at the Vanity Fair post-Oscars party at Morton’s in West Hollywood, Calif., Sunday. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

AP Movie Writer

LOS ANGELES — Backstage at the Academy Awards, Clint Eastwood contemplated how deserving he was to come away with his second best-picture and directing triumph, this time for the boxing tale ‘‘Million Dollar Baby.’’

‘‘There’s a lot of great movies that have won the Academy Award, and a lot of great movies that haven’t,’’ said Eastwood, whose film also earned Hilary Swank her second best-actress Oscar and Morgan Freeman the supporting-actor prize. Humbly, Eastwood added, ‘‘You just do the best you can.’’

Other acting awards Sunday night went to performers in real-life roles, Jamie Foxx as lead actor for his uncanny emulation of Ray Charles in ‘‘Ray’’ and Cate Blanchett for supporting actress as Katharine Hepburn, the love of Howard Hughes’ life, in ‘‘The Aviator.’’

Eastwood’s triumph meant fresh heartbreak for Martin Scorsese, whose Hughes epic ‘‘The Aviator’’ won the most awards with five but failed to bring him the directing Oscar that has eluded him throughout his distinguished career.

Scorsese, now a five-time loser, matched the record of Oscar futility held by a handful of legendary filmmakers such as Alfred Hitchcock and Robert Altman, who also went 0-for-5 in the directing category.

Eastwood, who directed a segment of Scorsese’s music-documentary TV series ‘‘The Blues,’’ had kind words for his rival backstage.

‘‘I was kind of a little disappointed when they started building a competition between Marty and me,’’ Eastwood said. ‘‘I have the greatest respect for him and all his films.’’