THE HELP TRIUMPHS AT SAG FILM AWARDS!!

Viola Davis was overcome with emotion when she accepted her award

 Viola celebrating with Octavia backstage

The Help: Octavia Spencer, middle, with her co-stars Emma Stone and Viola Davis in the hit movie

Tearful: Octavia Spencer wept tears of joy when she won the SAG for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role for The Help in Los Angeles on Sunday night

Civil rights drama The Help has won three prizes at the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) awards, including best cast and best actress for Viola Davis.

Another of the film's stars, Octavia Spencer, was named best supporting actress.

"Dream big and dream fierce," Davis told the audience at Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium on Sunday.

Silent movie The Artist, tipped for Oscar glory, could only manage one win, a best actor prize for Jean Dujardin.

The SAG awards are seen as a key indicator of which films and stars may come out on top at the Oscars.

Actors make up the biggest voting group in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which picks the Oscar recipients.

Veteran Christopher Plummer was named best supporting actor for his portrayal of an elderly man who comes out to his family in Beginnners.