Film Review • La Belle et la Bête (1946)

Film poster, taken from IMDb

A film in French that was in Spanish with English subtitles, is not the easiest film to focus on.

La Belle et la Bête, a black and white film directed and written by Jean Cocteau, the film was produced so close to the production of colored film, which was used widely in the 1950s.

Beasts Mask, taken from IMDb

The Beast was presented as a catlike humanoid creature, the costumes lips I could not tell if they moved well as the language was not my own, the eyes looked like they were slow to move, possibly making the mask heavy.

Beasts Mask, Taken from
btbennet.wordpress

There are a few similarities between The Beasts mask and the Cowardly Lions mask from The Wizard of Oz.

Although the films were 7 years apart, You'd think La Belle et la Bête would have come first due to its black and white footage but you'd be wrong, The Wizard of Oz was released in 1939. 

Although there are comparisons there are differences too, La Belle et la Bête's mask looks much furrier.

The Cowardly Lion
Taken from Medium.com

Although the costume itself is interesting, the set designs were even more so.

The doors moved on their own, the candelabras were held out by arms that reached out from the walls, and Statues that turn and look at characters walking past.

Belle in the Corridor
Taken from 366weirdmovies

The walls were dark inside the castle which made some rooms seem endless as you could not define a wall.
The arms were combined with possibly fishing line to help keep a magical feel around the castle, so if the viewer has a willing suspension of disbelief the illusion is not broken.

The candelabras
Taken from forgottencityiram.tumblr

Trailer

References

a Belle et la Bête (1946) IMDb at:https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038348/ (accessed 31/10/2019)

Xan Brooks, La Belle et la Bête – review (2014) The Guardian  at:https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jan/05/la-belle-et-la-bete-remastered-cocteau-review (accessed 31/10/2019)

Bruce Bennett, ‘Deserting the human race’: Introduction to La Belle et La Bête (Jean Cocteau, 1946)
(2014) at:https://btbennett.wordpress.com/2014/01/28/deserting-the-human-race-jean-cocteaus-la-belle-et-la-bete/(accessed 31/10/2019)

Gregory J. Smalley, 202. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1946) (2015) at: https://366weirdmovies.com/202-beauty-and-the-beast-1946/ (accessed 31/10/2019)

film Beauty and the Beast La Belle et la Bête Jean Cocteau my gifs, at:https://forgottencityiram.tumblr.com/post/50682019206 (accessed 31/10/2019)

Cowardly lion photo, at: https://medium.com/omgfacts/the-cowardly-lions-costume-was-made-of-real-lion-skins-db10a01a44fb (accessed 31/10/2019)