by Tim Castle
LONDON (Reuters) - Director Stephen Daldry is leading the British charge on the Oscars with his film The Hours, which gained nine nominations on Tuesday, including for best film and best director.
Other British stars nominated in the race for Oscar glory are Michael Caine, Daniel Day-Lewis and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Daldry's The Hours, which interweaves the life of writer Virginia Wolfe with that of two other women in different eras, also earned nominations for best actress for Nicole Kidman, best supporting actor for Ed Harris, and best supporting actress for Julianne Moore.
It is Daldry's second chance to win an Oscar, after having been nominated as Best Director in 2000 for his childhood dance drama Billy Elliot.
The Hours also garnered a nomination for best adapted screenplay for British playwright, David Hare, his first Oscar nomination.
The movie will be in contention with Chicago, Gangs of New York, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Pianist.
Veteran actor Caine picked up his sixth Oscar nomination, after being named for best actor for his role as a foreign correspondent in the adaptation of Graham Greene's "The Quiet American."
Caine already holds two Oscars, both for best supporting actor, won in 1999 for The Cider House Rules and in 1986 for Hannah and her Sisters.
Caine will be vying with Day-Lewis, also nominated in the best actor category for playing the fearsome Bill the Butcher in Gangs of New York.
Day-Lewis won a best actor Oscar in 1989 for his role as a disabled artist in My Left Foot.
Caine and Day-Lewis face tough competition from Jack Nicholson (About Schmidt), Adrien Brody (The Pianist), and Nicholas Cage (Adaptation).
Zeta-Jones, currently fighting a high profile legal case in London's High Court, earned her first Oscar nomination after she was named as a contender for best supporting actress for playing nightclub singer Velma Kelly in Chicago.
The Oscars ceremony will take place on Sunday March 23 in Los Angeles.
© 2003 Reuters