Beauty and the Beast

Film Info

France
1946
93 minutes
Black and White
1.33:1
French
Spine #6

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

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

New, 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
New and improved English subtitle translation
PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by film critic Geoffrey O’Brien (Blu-ray 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 only), and an introduction to Glass’s opera by the composer

New DVD cover by William Logan, new Blu-ray cover by Sarah Habibi