Beauty and the Beast (1946 film)

Beauty and the Beast
Film poster
Directed byJean Cocteau
Screenplay byJean Cocteau
Based onBeauty and the Beast
by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont
Produced byAndré Paulvé
StarringJean Marais
Josette Day
Mila Parély
Nane Germon
Michel Auclair
Marcel André
CinematographyHenri Alekan
Edited byClaude Iberia
Music byGeorges Auric
Distributed byDisCina
Release date
  • 29 October 1946 (1946-10-29)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench
Box office4,202,951 admissions (France)[1]

Beauty and the Beast (French: La Belle et la Bête – also the UK title)[2] is a 1946 French romantic fantasy film directed by French poet and filmmaker Jean Cocteau. Starring Josette Day as Belle and Jean Marais as the Beast, it is an adaptation of the 1757 story Beauty and the Beast, 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 the Beast's garden. Belle offers to go back to the Beast in her father's place. The Beast falls in love with her and proposes marriage on a nightly basis, which she refuses. Belle eventually becomes more drawn to the Beast, who tests her by letting her return home to her family, and telling her that if she does not return to him within a week, he will die of grief.

Beauty and the Beast is now recognized as a classic of French cinema.[3]

  1. ^ "Box Office Figures for Jean Marais films". Box Office Story.
  2. ^ "LA BELLE ET LA BETE". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016.
  3. ^ "Jean Cocteau's Acclaimed Films". They Shoot Pictures, Don't They. 2016. Archived from the original on 14 October 2017. Retrieved 30 October 2016.