La Belle et la Bête (1946) Film Review

A Young Merchants Daughter takes the place of her father as the prisoner of a mysterious, magical Beast, Who later desires to marry her.

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La Belle et la Bête, Directed and Written by Jean Cocteau is the French spin on the soon to be Disney Animated movie Beauty and the Beast, but takes a slightly different path in story wise.
Belle (Josette Day) along with her 3 other siblings Adlaide (Nane Germon), Felicie (Mila Parely), and Ludovic (Michel Auclair), are the children of a Merchant man (Marcel Andre) who came under some good news on a big shipment that would help with their financial problems only to later find out that it had been shipwrecked in a storm while traveling home from hearing this news the Merchant travels through the forest only to come across a mysterious, ominous looking castle to which he blindly goes in to after giving up his horse to some mystical force. After spending some time alone in the castle, the Merchant reemerges from the main doors to discover a Rose bush to which laid a Rose, one of the three items he was to return with to give to his Daughters, this being for Belle, only to immediately encounter La Bete, The Beast (Jean Marais) who gives him an ultimatum, either give his life to the beast or give the life of one of his Daughters.
Later, he tells his story to his children and to Avenant (Jean Marais) and refuses to give the life of his Daughters and insists on going himself, while Belle has other ideas and burdens her fathers fate on to her shoulders and goes to face the Beast only for a love story to unfold between the two.

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Considering this to be a classic for the french movie Companies, it is almost forgotten to the rest of the world which is a shame because this movie actually has some good traits to it, although there are some scenes to which the story doesn't exist mostly with scenes involving the Beast and Belle. And than there are scenes where you can tell how they feel for each other. Other than that the movie is not half bad in VFX and Set Design given the time of release being in the late 1940's. The sets really show the mysteriousness surrounding the Beasts castle to which the interior helps with, Arms hanged on walls holding candles that actually move as if someone is on the other side with their arm poked through, Statues that act like security cameras, being the eyes of the castle and to be on the defensive if necessary (as to what happens at the end of the movie), as the film went on these decorations didn't seem unsettling to the characters.

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Quotes from Other Reviewer:

Site: Rotten Tomatoes

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A sublime, sumptuous film directed by Jean Cocteau with the help of Rene Clement.

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Cocteau's fairytale set standards in fantasy which few other film-makers have reached.

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So enchanting it takes your breath away, Jean Cocteau's 1946 live-action version of the famous fairy tale remains one of the most magical films ever made.

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With interiors that owe much to the paintings of Doré and Vermeer, this visual feast is enhanced by the magical realism of Henri Alekan's photography, Christian Bérard's exquisite costumes and Georges Auric's audacious score.

Personal Quote

With the remade version of this movie that came out in 2014, it may hold up in VFX wise, but it probably won't hold up to the classic of the fiarytail that this movie has shown.