Beauty and the Beast was a major hit in post-war France and did quite well on the art-house circuit in the U.S. It also made leading man Jean Marais a major romantic star.

"Cocteau has taken the old story of the beautiful country girl who goes to live as a hostage for her impoverished father in the palace of a terrifying beast, there to be treated with such kindness that she falls in love with the unhappy brute, and has used it as a pattern for weaving a priceless fabric of subtle images. In the style of his 'Blood of a Poet,' though less abstract and recondite, it is a fabric of gorgeous visual metaphors, of undulating movements and rhythmic pace, of hypnotic sounds and music, of casually congealing ideas." - Bosley Crowther, The New York Times

"Unduly slow pace and repetitious use of trick sets hurts chances of this film....Picture is geared more for the arty crowd than the masses." -- Variety

"Cocteau wanted to make a poem, wanted to appeal through images rather than words, and although the story takes the form of the familiar fable, its surface seems to be masking deeper and more disturbing currents. It is not a 'children's film.' Is it even suitable for children? Some will be put off by the black and white photography and the subtitles (brief, however, and easy to read). Those who get beyond those hurdles will find a film that may involve them much more deeply than the Disney cartoon, because it is not just a jolly comic musical but deals, as all fairy tales do, with what we truly dread and fear." -- Roger Ebert, RogerEbert.com

"What's appealing and problematic is its visual opulence. Full of baroque interiors, elegant costumes, and overwrought jewelry (even tears turn to diamonds), the film is all surface, and undermines its own don't-trust-a-pretty-face and anti-greed themes at every turn." -- Michael Miller, The Village Voice

AWARDS & HONORS

Beauty and the Beast won the Prix Louis-Delluc, one of France's major cinema awards, voted on by a jury of 20 film critics and cultural leaders. By Frank Miller