Beauty and the Beast (1946 film)

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Beauty and the Beast
Original French relase poster
Directed by	Jean Cocteau
Produced by	André Paulvé
Written by	Jean Cocteau Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont
Starring	Jean Marais Josette Day
Distributed by	Lopert Pictures Corporation
Release date(s)	Oct 29, 1946 Sept 23, 1947
Running time	96 min
Country	France
Language	French
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For other uses, see Beauty and the Beast (disambiguation).

Beauty and the Beast (French: La Belle et la Bête) is a French film, made in 1946, based on the fairy tale “Beauty and the Beast.” The film was directed by Jean Cocteau, and starred Jean Marais in three roles, including the Beast, as well as Josette Day as Beauty. Michel Auclair played Ludovic, Beauty’s brother.

The score was by Georges Auric, and the cinematography by Henri Alekan. The film was made in black-and-white.

The film is notable for its surreal quality and its ability to use existing movie technology to effectively evoke a feeling of magic and enchantment. The set designs and cinematography were intended to evoke the illustrations and engravings of Gustave Doré and, in the farmhouse scenes, the paintings of Jan Vermeer.

In 1995 composer Philip Glass composed an opera version. 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. The current Criterion Collection DVD offers the ability to view the movie while listening to either version.

Often considered one of the finest fantasy films of all time, it to some extent inspired the Disney animated film of the same name.