Beauty and the Beast
(La belle et la bete)
Release date 29th October 1946
Country : France
Running time : 96 mins
Genre : Romance/Fantasy
Starring Jean Marais, Josette Day
 Screenplay by Jean Cocteau
Directed by Jean Cocteau



A beautiful girl condemned to live with a beast slowly falls in love with him, eventually she breaks the magic spell revealing her lover as a handsome man.

A captivating fantasy which like Orpheus (the director's other great film) is a poem on film. The beast's castle is turned into a magical place by Cocteau in which hands reach out to hold candles and doors open and close by themselves.

 

The 1991animated Disney version borrowed a lot from Cocteau, the design of the beast in particular is almost a complete copy.