Jean Cocteau directed the 1946 French film La Belle et la Bête, an influential adaptation of Beauty and the Beast.
Cocteau also wrote the screenplay with Pierre Marais. The film stars Jean Marais as the Beast and Josette Day as Belle, known in the film as “Beauty.” Its dreamlike visual style uses practical effects, elaborate sets, and theatrical imagery.
The film is based on the literary fairy tale associated with Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and later Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont. It is not a Disney production, although its imagery has influenced later versions of the story.
A common mix-up is identifying Cocteau only as a poet or playwright. He was also a major filmmaker, and La Belle et la Bête is among his best-known cinematic works.