Jean Marais, Josette Day, Michel Auclair

A half-ruined merchant lives in the country with his son Ludovic and his three daughters. Two of the daughters, Felicie and Adelaide, are real shrews, selfish, pretentious, evil. They exploit the thir...( read more  read more... )d daughter, Belle, as a servant. One day, the merchant gets lost in the forest and enters a strange castle. He picks up a rose for Belle and the castle's owner appear. He is a monster, half-human, half-beast, and possesses magic powers. He sentences the merchant to death, unless he give up one of his daughters. Belle sacrifices herself for her father and goes to the castle, discovering that the Beast is not so wild and inhuman as it seems.

Flixster Users

82% liked it

17,645 ratings

Critics

95% liked it

41 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 35 min.

Directed by: Jean Cocteau, René Clément

Release Date: January 1, 1946

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DVD Release Date: June 2, 1998

Stats: 667 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (667)


  • June 18, 2009
    What the Wizard of Oz would have been had it been made in Europe.
  • January 31, 2009
    I can't help but wonder if this was not the most popular "date movie" of 1946 (and by "date movie" I mean CHICK FLICK). In spite of it's overtly sappy nature and stylish melodramatics, La Belle et la Bęte is sheer poetry captured on film. The haunting effects of Bęte's a...( read more)nimated castle furnishings are alone worth the price of admission (or DVD rental). Visually, the entire picture is stunning, simply a beautiful work of art.

    *NOTE: Did anyone else notice a similarity between the beast's make-up and Burt Lahr's cowardly lion? I kept expecting that, at any moment, he'd break out in song with the lyrics to "If I were King of the Forest".
  • August 12, 2008
    Here's another lesson of how all the CGI in the world can't do shit against a creative use of traditional effects. Yes, the beast looks like a stuffed doll, but it never works against the dreamy atmosphere of the film. It's those rare type of films that you can say that you "drea...( read more)m it" instead of "i watched" and that's in the best sense possible.
  • August 8, 2008
    once upon a time...
  • November 30, 2007
    The most enchanted and enchanting of cinematic fairy tales. I think I slightly prefer Cocteau's later "Orpheus" to this but it's a very close contest. The word 'magical' is over-used in fantasy cinema criticism but there is no better word to describe this film.
  • November 18, 2009
    MAGNIFICENT AND FLAMBOYANT MOVIE.
    RIDLEY SCOTT TAKE SOME IDEAS FOR LEGEND, AND FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA DID THE SAME FOR DRACULA.
  • October 15, 2009
    Sure, it has some unintentionally comical parts but it's also wonderfully dream-like. Big screen does it most justice, afterwards you think you've dreamt the whole thing. Besides, I prefer this kind of version of Beauty and the Beast (father stealing a rose etc).
  • August 28, 2009
    All fairytales are derivatives of the guilt-innocence syndrome of the children's notion of the world.Beast is the vicious but kind-hearted soul thus Belle becomes the penultimate saint in Cocteau's mind.A Saint without wings,nonetheless a spirit of the most divine emotions a chil...( read more)d would love to have as a protector.And of what of us,adults?An adventure in the forest is all that's left for us...but what an adventure!
  • July 22, 2009
    An unbelieveably great film which just captures the magic of the story even 60 years ago. Having been familear with the Disney version I must say that this isnt so different (see previous review) but where that just failed on the slightest of details this one flurishes from the c...( read more)harm of 1940's french ways. The dialouge is magical and poetically beautiful, while some may cringe its this which makes their relationship flourish. Dont be a snob about the subtitles or the Black and White and just give it a watch!
  • July 18, 2009
    Enchanting, evocative and surreal in the European fashion. The scene where Josette Day enters the mansion is dreamy and worth rewinding.

Critic Reviews


January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

One of the most magical of all films. full review

View more Beauty and The Beast (La Belle et la bęte) reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

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