Beauty and the Beast
About Beauty and the Beast
An old merchant leaves his daughters and, with a servant, gets lost in a forest. He finds a garden, sits down, and picks roses. The Beast bursts out of the ground in a jet of flame and condemns him to death unless one of his three daughters will marry the Beast. The merchant gives his word. At home he tells the story. The most beautiful daughter agrees, recoils when she sees the Beast, then pities him and follows him to his hut, where she finds him dying of grief. Julienne Mathieu is in the cast. Albert Capellani directed it for Pathé from Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont's tale.
Cast & crew
More about Beauty and the Beast
Pathé catalog number 2252, in the féeries and tales series, released in France in August 1908. The original length is 190 meters, of which 160 meters were colored. A four-minute fragment is what some later accounts say survives in poor condition. The telegraph code word Pathé used for the title was Entrave.
Themes
Background
Pathé was turning fairy tales into short colored féeries in 1908. This one sits in the ninth series of that line.
Music
Silent.
Preservation
A short, poor fragment of about four minutes has been described as what is readily seen. Pathé's original issue was 190 meters.
Notes
- The source is Beaumont's 1757 tale, not the earlier folk versions.
- Julienne Mathieu, usually seen in Chomón's tricks, appears for Capellani here.
- 160 of the 190 meters were released in color.
- One later description says only a four-minute fragment is readily viewed.
Scenes
- The Beast rises out of the garden in flame when the merchant picks the roses.
- The daughter finds the Beast dying of grief in the hut.
Influenced by
- Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont's La Belle et la Bête (1757)
