''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête – also the UK title) is a 1946 French romantic

fantasy film Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered a form of speculative fiction alongside science fi ...

directed by French poet and filmmaker

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the su ...

. Starring Josette Day as Belle and

Jean Marais Jean-Alfred Villain-Marais (11 December 1913 – 8 November 1998), known professionally as Jean Marais (), was a French actor, film director, theatre director, painter, sculptor, visual artist, writer and photographer. He performed in over 100 f ...

as the Beast, it is an adaptation of the 1757 story ''

Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine ...

'', written by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont and published as part of a fairy tale anthology. The plot of Cocteau's film revolves around Belle's father who is sentenced to death for picking a rose from Beast's garden. Belle offers to go back to the Beast in her father's place. Beast falls in love with her and proposes marriage on a nightly basis which she refuses. Belle eventually becomes more drawn to Beast, who tests her by letting her return home to her family and telling her that if she doesn't return to him within a week, he will die of grief. ''Beauty and the Beast'' is now recognized as a classic of

French cinema French cinema consists of the film industry and its film productions, whether made within the nation of France or by French film production companies abroad. It is the oldest and largest precursor of national cinemas in Europe; with primary influ ...

Plot

While scrubbing the floor at home, Belle ( Josette Day) is interrupted by her brother's friend Avenant (

) who tells her she deserves better and suggests they get married. Belle rejects Avenant, as she wishes to stay home and take care of her father, who has suffered much since his ships were lost at sea and the family fortune along with them. Belle's father ( Marcel André) arrives home announcing he has come into a great fortune that he will pick up the next day, along with gifts for his daughters, Belle and her shrewish sisters Adelaide and Felicie. Belle's roguish brother Ludovic (

Michel Auclair Michel Auclair (born Vladimir Vujović, sr-cyr, Владимир Вујовић; 14 September 1922 – 7 January 1988) was an actor of Serbian and French ancestry, known best for his roles in French cinema. Auclair was born to a Serbian fathe ...

), believing they will soon be wealthy, signs a contract from a moneylender (

Raoul Marco Raoul Marco (22 November 1892 – 3 April 1971) was a French film actor.Phillips p.215 Partial filmography * ''Bric à Brac et compagnie'' (1931) - Monsieur Verly * ''Le gendre de Monsieur Poirier'' (1933) - Le premier créancier * '' The Red Ro ...

) allowing him the ability to sue Ludovic's father if he can't pay. Belle's sisters ask for a monkey and a parrot as gifts, but Belle asks only for a rose. However, the next day, Belle's father finds on his arrival that his fortune has been seized to clear his debts and he is as penniless as before. He has no money for lodging and is forced to return home through a forest at night. He gets lost in the forest and finds himself at a large castle whose gates and doors magically open themselves. On entering the castle, he is guided by an enchanted

candelabra A candelabra (plural candelabras) or candelabrum (plural candelabra or candelabrums) is a candle holder with multiple arms. Although electricity has relegated candleholders to decorative use, interior designers continue to model light fixtures ...

that leads him to a laden dinner table where he falls asleep. Awakened by a loud roar, he wanders the castle's grounds. Remembering that Belle asked for a rose, he plucks a rose from a tree which makes the Beast (Jean Marais) appear. The Beast threatens to kill him for theft but suggests that one of his daughters can take his place. The Beast offers his horse Magnificent to guide him through the forest and to his home. Beauty and Beast script Cocteau

Belle's father explains the situation to his family and Avenant. Belle agrees to take her father's place and rides Magnificent to the castle. Upon meeting the Beast, Belle faints at his monstrous appearance and is carried to her room in the castle. Belle awakens to find a magic mirror which allows her to see anything. The Beast invites Belle to dinner, where he tells her that she's in equal command to him and that she will be asked every day to marry him. Days pass as Belle grows more accustomed to and fond of the Beast, but she continues to refuse marriage. Using the magic mirror, Belle sees that her father has become deathly ill. Belle begs for permission to visit her family, and the Beast reluctantly grants her permission to leave for a week. He gives Belle two magical items: a glove that can transport her wherever she wishes and a golden key that unlocks Diana's Pavilion, the source of the Beast's true riches. He tells Belle that he gives her these precious items to show his trust in her, and says that if she does not return at the end of the week, he will die of grief. Belle uses the glove to appear in her bedridden father's room, where her visit restores him to health. Belle finds her family living in poverty, having never recovered from Ludovic's deal with the moneylender. Jealous of Belle's rich life at the castle, Adelaide and Felicie steal her golden key and devise a plan to turn Ludovic and Avenant against the Beast. Avenant and Ludovic devise a plan of their own to kill the Beast, and agree to aid Belle's sisters. To stall Belle, her sisters trick her into staying past her seven-day limit by pretending to love her. Belle reluctantly agrees to stay. The Beast sends Magnificent with the magic mirror to retrieve Belle but Ludovic and Avenant find Magnificent first, and ride him to the castle. Belle later finds the mirror which reveals the Beast's sorrowful face in its reflection. Belle realizes she is missing the golden key as the mirror breaks. Distraught, Belle returns to the castle using the magic glove and finds the Beast in the courtyard, near death from a broken heart. Meanwhile, Avenant and Ludovic stumble upon Diana's Pavilion. Thinking that their stolen key may trigger a trap, they scale the wall of the Pavilion. As the Beast dies in Belle's arms, Avenant breaks into the Pavilion through its glass roof, whereupon he is shot with an arrow by an animated statue of the Roman goddess Diana and is himself turned into a Beast. As this happens, arising from where the Beast lay dead is Prince Ardent (Jean Marais) who is cured of being the Beast. He explains that because his parents did not believe in spirits, in revenge the spirits turned him into the Beast. Prince Ardent and Belle embrace, then fly away to his kingdom where she will be his Queen. He promises that her father will stay with them and Belle's sisters will carry the train of her gown.

Cast

as La Bête (The Beast) / The Prince / Avenant * Josette Day as Belle * Marcel André as Belle's Father * Mila Parély as Félicie *

Nane Germon Nane Germon (1909–2001) was a French television and film actress.Goble p.330 Selected filmography * ''Coup de feu à l'aube'' (1932) * '' A Weak Woman'' (1933) * ''Le rayon des amours'' (1933) - Nicole * ''Les aventures du roi Pausole'' (1933) ...

as Adélaïde *

as Ludovic *

as The Usurer

Production

Writing

After the

opening credits In a motion picture, television program or video game, the opening credits or opening titles are shown at the very beginning and list the most important members of the production. They are now usually shown as text superimposed on a blank screen ...

, Cocteau briefly breaks the

fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...

with a written preamble: : : : :Children believe what we tell them. They have complete faith in us. They believe that a rose plucked from a garden can plunge a family into conflict. They believe that the hands of a human beast will smoke when he slays a victim, and that this will cause him shame when a young maiden takes up residence in his home. They believe a thousand other simple things. :I ask of you a little of this childlike sympathy and, to bring us luck, let me speak four truly magic words, childhood's " Open Sesame": :

Once upon a time "Once upon a time" is a stock phrase used to introduce a narrative of past events, typically in fairy tales and folk tales. It has been used in some form since at least 1380 (according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'') in storytelling in th ...

...

Filming

The set designs and cinematography were intended to evoke the illustrations and

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an i ...

s of

Gustave Doré Paul Gustave Louis Christophe Doré ( , , ; 6 January 1832 – 23 January 1883) was a French artist, as a printmaker, illustrator, painter, comics artist, caricaturist, and sculpture, sculptor. He is best known for his prolific output of wood-e ...

and, in the farmhouse scenes, the paintings of

Jan Vermeer Johannes Vermeer ( , , see below; also known as Jan Vermeer; October 1632 – 15 December 1675) was a Dutch Baroque Period painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. During his lifetime, he was a moderately suc ...

. The cinematography was performed by

Henri Alekan Henri Alekan (10 February 1909, Paris – 15 June 2001, Auxerre, Bourgogne) was a French cinematographer. Life Alekan was born in Montmartre in 1909. At the age of sixteen he and his brother became travelling puppeteers. A little later he ...

. Christian Bérard and Lucien Carré covered

production design In film and television, the production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Wor ...

Soundtrack

The score was composed by

Georges Auric Georges Auric (; 15 February 1899 – 23 July 1983) was a French composer, born in Lodève, Lodève, Hérault, France. He was considered one of ''Les Six'', a group of artists informally associated with Jean Cocteau and Erik Satie. Before he turn ...

Filming locations

The outdoor locations were primarily filmed * At Oise ** The Château de Raray * At the Val-d'Osi ** At the Royaumont Abbey * At Indre-et-Loire ** The Moulin de Touvoie in Rochecorbon is Belle's home. ** Parçay-Meslay * At the Alpes-Maritimes ** Èze The scenes filmed in a studio were shot * At the Franstudio Studio in Saint-Maurice, in the

Val-de-Marne Val-de-Marne (, "Vale of the Marne") is a department of France located in the Île-de-France region. Named after the river Marne, it is situated in the Grand Paris metropolis to the southeast of the City of Paris. In 2019, Val-de-Marne had a ...

* At the Eclair Studio in Epinay sur Seine * At

Joinville Studios The Joinville Studios were a film studio in Paris which operated between 1910 and 1987. They were one of the leading French studios, with major companies such as Pathé and Gaumont making films there. A second studio was added to the original ...

in Joinville le Pont

The Beast's makeup

At first, Jean Marais wanted to use a deer head, but decided against it because in '' La Chatte blanche,'' the magical castle has a deer head as its door knocker. He also thought it would be linked to the myth of the Celtic god

Cernunnos In ancient Celtic and Gallo-Roman religion, Cernunnos or Carnonos was a god depicted with antlers, seated cross-legged, and is associated with stags, horned serpents, dogs and bulls. He is usually shown holding or wearing a torc and sometimes ...

, the

horned god The Horned God is one of the two primary deities found in Wicca and some related forms of Neopaganism. The term ''Horned God'' itself predates Wicca, and is an early 20th-century syncretic term for a horned or antlered anthropomorphic god partl ...

. Also, Jean Cocteau thought that the audience would think that the head of a deer would be ridiculous for a dangerous, ferocious beast. They got Jean Marais' Alaskan Husky, Moulouk, to be the model of the beast's face. The beast's makeup and prostheses took a long time to apply, taking about three hours to attach the beast's mask and one hour for each claw. The teeth would be hooked into the actor's mouth, which was not very practical for eating. This caused the actor to eat mainly soup. In Vincent Pinel's ''Century of Cinema,'' he writes (page 207), "With the complexity of the set designer Christian Bérard, the cinematographer Henri Alekan, and his "technical director"

René Clément René Clément (; 18 March 1913 – 17 March 1996) was a French film director and screenwriter. Life and career Clément studied architecture at the École des Beaux-Arts where he developed an interest in filmmaking. In 1936, he directed hi ...

, Jean Cocteau filmed ''Beauty and the Beast'' (1946). The impressive makeup of Jean Marais, including both hands and claws, took long hours to apply." Cocteau says, in his film journal, how the close up shots of the beast resembles a deer. "Clément, hiding behind the beast, moves the beast's ears with a stick to make them stand up. The effect is amazing."

Reception in the U.S.

Upon the film's December 1947 New York City release, critic

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

called the film a "priceless fabric of subtle images...a fabric of gorgeous visual metaphors, of undulating movements and rhythmic pace, of hypnotic sounds and music, of casually congealing ideas"; according to Crowther, "the dialogue, in French, is spare and simple, with the story largely told in

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speakin ...

, and the music of Georges Auric accompanies the dreamy, fitful moods. The settings are likewise expressive, many of the exteriors having been filmed for rare architectural vignettes at Raray, one of the most beautiful palaces and parks in all France. And the costumes, too, by Christian Bérard and Escoffier, are exquisite affairs, glittering and imaginative." According to ''Time'' magazine, the film is a "wondrous spectacle for children of any language, and quite a treat for their parents, too"; but the magazine concludes "Cocteau makes about a half-hour too much of a good thing—and few things pall like a dream that cannot be shaken off." In 1999 ''Chicago Sun-Times'' critic Roger Ebert added the film to his The Great Movies list, calling it "one of the most magical of all films" and a "fantasy alive with trick shots and astonishing effects, giving us a Beast who is lonely like a man and misunderstood like an animal." A 2002 ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cre ...

'' review found the film's "visual opulence" "both appealing and problematic", writing "Full of baroque interiors, elegant costumes, and overwrought jewelry (even tears turn to diamonds), the film is all surface, and undermines its own don't-trust-a-pretty-face and anti-greed themes at every turn." In 2010, the film was ranked #26 in ''Empire'' magazine's "100 Best Films of World Cinema".

Adaptations and homages

* Jacques Demy's 1970 film '' Donkey Skin'' is a musical farce adapted from Charles Perrault's incestuous fairy tale about a widowed king who wishes to marry his beautiful daughter. Demy pays homage to Cocteau in numerous references to ''Beauty and the Beast'', including the casting of actor Jean Marais as the king. At one point, the king woos the princess by reading from Cocteau's poem, "Ode à Picasso." *American singer-songwriter

Stevie Nicks Stephanie Lynn Nicks (born May 26, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter, and producer known for her work with the band Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist. After starting her career as a duo with her then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham, releas ...

wrote her 1983 ballad "Beauty and the Beast" after screening the film for the second time. While she performs the song, the film plays on the screen behind her and the band. *The fourteenth episode of ''

Faerie Tale Theatre Faerie Tale Theatre (also known as Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre) is an American live-action fairytale fantasy drama anthology television series of 27 episodes, that originally aired on Showtime from September 11, 1982 until November 14, ...

'', broadcast in August 1984, featured an adaptation of ''Beauty And The Beast'' which was an homage to this film. It borrowed many visual elements, including the makeup for the beast, along with segments of the dialogue translated from French into English. It featured

Susan Sarandon Susan Abigail Sarandon (; née Tomalin; born October 4, 1946) is an American actorMcCabe, Bruce"Susan Sarandon, the 'actor'" ''Boston Globe''. April 17, 1981. Retrieved January 21, 2021. and activist. She is the recipient of various accolades, ...

as Belle and

Klaus Kinski Klaus Kinski (, born Klaus Günter Karl Nakszynski 18 October 1926 – 23 November 1991) was a German actor, equally renowned for his intense performance style and notorious for his volatile personality. He appeared in over 130 film roles in a c ...

as the Beast. *In 1994, composer

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimalism, being built up from repetitive p ...

created an opera version — also called ''La Belle et la Bête'' — one of a "Cocteau Trilogy" of operas. In its initial incarnation the musicians and singers would perform the work on stage with a restored, newly subtitled print of the film playing on a screen behind them. In the original presentation, Belle was sung by the

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...

Janice Felty. (The current

Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scho ...

Blu-ray release offers the ability to view the movie while listening to either Glass's score or the original soundtrack.) *The 2003 American miniseries ''

Angels in America ''Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes'' is a two-part play by American playwright Tony Kushner. The work won numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Tony Award for Best Play, and the Drama Desk Award for ...

'' features a dream sequence which duplicates the set design of the Beast's castle. A character is shown reading a book about Cocteau before the dream begins. * The Vienna Art Orchestra's 1995 production "The Vienna Art Orchestra plays for Jean Cocteau" was performed with a showing of the film, and uses its texts.

Awards

* Won the Prix Louis Dullec in 1946 * Nominated for Grand Prize of the Festival for the 1946

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

* Best Actor nominee for Jean Marais for the Bambi Awards in 1948 * Listed as part of the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

's list of Top 50 films you should see by the age of 14.

References

Bibliography

* Marie-Cathérine d'Aulnoy, La Chatte blanche, in: Les Contes des Fées, Paris 1697–1698, reprinted in German in: Französische Märchen, Auswahl und Einleitung von Jack Zipes, Frankfurt/Main, Verlag Zweitausendeins, Lizenausgabe des Insel-Verlages, Mainz/Leipzig 1991, S. 123–156. * Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont, La Belle et la bête, in: Le Magasin des Enfants, ou Dialogues entre une sage gouvernante et ses élèves, London 1757, reprinted in German in: Französische Märchen, Auswahl und Einleitung von Jack Zipes, Frankfurt/Main, Verlag Zweitausendeins, Lizenausgabe des Insel-Verlages, Mainz/Leipzig 1991, S. 321–336.

External links

* * * * *
''Beauty and the Beast: Dark Magic''
an essay by

Geoffrey O'Brien Geoffrey O'Brien (born 1948 New York City, New York) is an American poet, editor, book and film critic, translator, and cultural historian. In 1992, he joined the staff of the Library of America as executive editor, becoming editor-in-chief in 19 ...

at the

''On the Making of Beauty and the Beast''
an essay by Francis Steegmuller at the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beauty And The Beast (1946 Film) 1946 films 1946 fantasy films French black-and-white films Films based on Beauty and the Beast Films directed by Jean Cocteau Louis Delluc Prize winners French romantic fantasy films 1940s French-language films 1940s romantic fantasy films Films scored by Georges Auric Films adapted into operas Films set in castles Films set in the 17th century Films set in France Diana (mythology) Films shot at Saint-Maurice Studios Films shot at Epinay Studios Films shot at Joinville Studios 1940s French films