It’s 93 minutes long, but if Cocteau had told the Beast to spit out his damn lines instead of dragging every utterance of “Belle” out to “Baaaayyyyyllll(ih),” he could have brought it in under an hour.   And the Beast…he looks like a dude in a Cats costume raided Elton John’s seventies wardrobe.   With that said, the movie has a number of lovely, creepy moments; you’re about to get bored with the camp and then it pulls something off that it really shouldn’t, like Belle’s tears turning into diamonds.   Sounds Smurfy, no?   But it works.   Same thing with the ending; it’s tacked-on telling instead of showing that doesn’t make sense in the second place, and then he’s like, “Now we fly away,” and you’re like, “Oh, come on now,” but the shot and Josette Day are so gorgeous that it succeeds.   Strange hybrid of amateurish and truly affecting.   (3/9/05)

Share!