Beauty and the Beast: Dark Magic
By July 18, 2011
Out of the extravagant variety of Jean Cocteau’s work—the paintings and drawings, the poems, the plays and novels and memoirs, the opera librettos and ballet scenarios—it is likely Read more »
- France
- 1946
- 93 minutes
- Black and White
- 1.33:1
- French
- Spine #6
SYNOPSIS: Jean Cocteau’s sublime adaptation of Mme. Leprince de Beaumont’s fairy-tale masterpiece—in which the pure love of a beautiful girl melts the heart of a feral but gentle beast—is a landmark of motion picture fantasy, with unforgettably romantic performances by Jean Marais and Josette Day. The spectacular visions of enchantment, desire, and death in Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et la Bête) have become timeless icons of cinematic wonder.
Cast & CreditsOpen
Cast
| Avenant/Beast/Prince Ardent | Jean Marais |
| Belle | Josette Day |
| Félicie | Mila Parély |
| Adélaïde | Nane Germon |
| Ludovic | Michel Auclair |
| Moneylender | Raoul Marco |
| The merchant (Belle’s father) | Marcel André |
Credits
| Director | Jean Cocteau |
| Written and directed by | Jean Cocteau |
| Cinematography | Henri Alekan |
| Based on the short story by | Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont |
| Music | Georges Auric |
| Editing | Claude Ibéria |
| "Illustrated" by | Christian Bèrard |
| Technical consultant | René Clément |
| Art director | René Moulaërt and Lucien Carré |
| Costume design | Marcel Escoffier |
| From the house of | Paquin |
| Makeup | Hagop Arakelian |
| Sound | Jacques Lébreton and Jacques Carrere |
| A production of | André Paulvé |
Disc Features
- High-definition digital transfer from restored film elements (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
- Philip Glass’s opera La Belle et la Bête, as an alternate soundtrack (presented in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray edition)
- Two commentaries: one by film historian Arthur Knight and one by writer and cultural historian Sir Christopher Frayling
- Screening at the Majestic, a 1995 documentary featuring interviews with cast and crew
- Interview with cinematographer Henri Alekan
- Rare behind-the-scenes photos and publicity stills
- Film restoration demonstration
- Original trailer, directed and narrated by Jean Cocteau, and the 1995 restoration trailer
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Geoffrey O’Brien (Blu-ray edition only), a 1947 piece on the film by Cocteau, excerpts from Francis Steegmuller’s 1970 Cocteau: A Biography, a reprint of Mme. Leprince de Beaumont’s original fable (DVD edition only), and an introduction to Glass’s opera by the composer
From the CurrentView the Current »
Film Essays
On the Making of Beauty and the Beast
By June 03, 1991
An excerpt from Cocteau: A Biography (1970) by Francis Steegmuller Beauty and the Beast, the first film of Cocteau’s own since The Blood of a Poet, and his finest poem since then Read more »
