"It was the best of times. It was the worst of times," said Charles Dickens. "Limited times" could be added to the parable if the master wordsmith had been speaking of the brief moments allotted to Academy Award winners for their acceptance speeches.

Many a bland, clever, curt and controversial word has been said since the Oscars' inception in 1929. At best, winners' diatribes have mirrored the times; at worst, they've been little more than a garble or gush of thespian emotion. Spoken, judged, then chronicled, Oscar speeches are the alpha and omega of industry expression.

According to Leslie Unger of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills, the lengthy trademark speeches audiences have grown to know and love (or love to mock), bear little resemblance to those of the early days, prior to Oscars' televised pomp and circumstance. "The acceptances were very brief," Unger says, "along the lines of 'thank you.' The television era changed that."

Yet there have been exceptions to the rule. In 1967, long after the Academy's first televised awards ceremony in 1953, Alfred Hitchcock accepted his honorary Oscar, the Irving Thalberg Memorial Award, with a simple "Thank you." Greer Garson represents the other end of the spectrum. When named best actress for her role in "Mrs. Miniver" in 1943, she accepted with a speech that was a whopping five minutes and 30 seconds long; henceforth, she was allegedly the butt of many an industry jab.

Luckily for Garson, there were many Oscar evenings to come, though it took nearly 40 years to be trumped by actress Sally Field, who upon accepting her best actress award for "Places in the Heart" uttered those famously sanguine words: "You like me! You really like me!" Apparently "like" was too weak a word for actor Cuba Gooding, Jr., who was honored for his supporting role in "Jerry Maguire." "I love you!" he boomed, expressing his deep affection for co-star Tom Cruise, director Cameron Crowe, producer James L. Brooks and ultimately, "Everybody!"

Fellow actors, producers, agents — all naturally figure into a great many Oscars speeches. Family, too, becomes the subject of praise, whether previously unknown to audiences or famous in their own right. In 2000, actress Angelina Jolie accepted her award for best supporting actress in "Girl Interrupted" by thanking not only her brother ("He's the funniest person I know and the sweetest person.") but also her famous father, Jon Voight (who won his own Oscar for best actor in 1979's "Coming Home"). "My dad," Jolie swooned, "you're a great actor, but a better father." In 1976, Louise Fletcher, who won for best actress in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," gave a heartfelt speech in sign language to her deaf parents.

Predictably, for every highlight, there is a lowlight, as in 1979, when actress Shirley MacLaine addressed her brother, actor Warren Beatty, who had been nominated — but lost out — for "Heaven Can Wait." "I want to take this opportunity to say how proud I am of my little brother," she said. "Just imagine what you could accomplish if you tried celibacy!" The camera panned to the cinematic swinger and captured his embarrassed then-girlfriend Diane Keaton.

And for every personal appeal, there seems to be a political statement. Marlon Brando didn't even have to attend the Oscars in 1973 to create a scandal. The best actor winner for his work in "The Godfather," Brando sent Native American Sasheen Littlefeather to tell a confounded audience: "To his great regret, Marlon Brando feels unable to accept his award. The reasons lie in the treatment of the Indian in TV and the movies in this country, and in the recent events at Wounded Knee." The brouhaha continued when it was later discovered that Littlefeather was actually an actress named Maria Cruz.

In 1978, Vanessa Redgrave used her time on the pulpit to insult the State of Israel and proclaim her solidarity with the Palestinians. Upon accepting her best actress award for "Julia," Redgrave thanked voters for not "being intimidated by a small group of Zionist hoodlums (referring to Academy members who opposed her nomination).

Infinitely more gracious, but equally political, was the presence of Hattie McDaniel on the podium in 1939. The actress, awarded for her supporting role in "Gone with the Wind," was the first African American to receive an Oscar. "My heart is too full to tell you just how I feel," she said. According to Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences librarian Libby Werton, McDaniel's is the most often requested awards ceremony speech from the Academy's archive.

Surely, in time, the 2003 Academy Awards archive will be equally sought after, for its across-the-board anti-war undertones. This was the site of Michael Moore's infamous tirade against George W. Bush and the war in Iraq. "We like non-fiction and we live in fictitious times," the winner for his documentary "Bowling for Columbine" said. "We live in a time where we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons... Shame on you, Mr. Bush!"

Whether it's politics, sexual morays, family or industry foot soldiers that are being mentioned in the speeches, one thing is certain: When the proverbial 15 minutes are up, there always seems to be a great deal more to say.