Beauty and the Beast (1946)

[Bada0Bing]

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Amazon.com
This is definitely not the Disney version. While it remains faithful to the plot of the classic fairy tale by Leprince de Beaumont, Jean Cocteau's 1946 French romantic fantasy is the product of a sophisticated, mature sensibility in its tones and textures and, above all, in its surprising emotional power. With sparkling black-and-white imagery that, for once, is actually dreamlike rather than cute or kitschy, and with a Beast (Jean Marais) who is almost as glamorous with his silky blonde facial hair as he is clean shaven, the movie casts a seductive spell. It might actually be a little too rich and unsettling for kids. Even the costumes and the draperies are entrancingly ornate. Viewers intoxicated by this enveloping vision should consider moving on to Cocteau's even more aggressively other-worldly 1949 masterpiece Orpheus, in which Marais plays the doomed poet of ancient Greek legend, updated to a Parisian "punk" milieu of motorcycles and black leather. --David Chute


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Recently watched it. Currently ranked #170 on IMDB's top 250. It seems a little overrated to me. The Beauty/Beast relationship seemed really forced. It's missing the magic of her falling in love with the beast, like the Disney version had.


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038348/

 

[Chaplin]

Wow, I can't believe someone as cultured as you Bada didn't like this. This is one of the best early foreign films ever made. Simply amazing given the time it was made.

 

[Bada0Bing]

Wow, I can't believe someone as cultured as you Bada didn't like this. This is one of the best early foreign films ever made. Simply amazing given the time it was made.

Phooey! The setting was pretty impressive for a 1946 film, but I was disappointed we didn't get to watch Belle fall in love with the beast.

As far as early foreign films go, I'd take a 30's era German film over this one any day.