While the 1946 Jean Cocteau and 1991 Disney versions are superior films of the timeless fairy tales, Cannon Movie Tales' 1987 adaptation is very worthy and one of the better Cannon Movie Tale films.
Beauty and the Beast (1987) is one of their best-looking films, Cannon's films were always made on a low budget but Beauty and the Beast is one of the few where it is not so painfully obvious. The film's very beautifully photographed, the sets are surprisingly lavish and atmospheric, especially the gardens and the castle is like a magisterial character in itself and from personal opinion Beauty and the Beast is the Cannon Movie Tale film with the best costume design, here being one of the highlights rather than a flaw. The music is quite good, not as memorable as the score and songs in Disney's version but they stand just fine on their own and fit well into the film. The incidental music is charmingly whimsical, and while only If You See With Your Heart stands out as truly great out of the songs (Wish for the Moon is also lovely, but not quite as emotion-filled) they're all listenable and do nothing to hinder the story.
The story of Beauty and the Beast is a timeless one, and while there are changes the basic details are intact structured faithfully and the enchanting spirit is too. Pacing is steady and controlled, very like the pacing of the fairy tale's story itself, the film doesn't suffer at all from trying to make a short story seem longer (a problem that The Frog Prince and especially The Emperor's New Clothes had) and the ending is very emotional. Beauty and the Beast's chemistry has a subtle intensity and a real poignancy too. It's nicely directed, allowing the story to breathe while still keeping its momentum and it does nothing to make the magic any less impactful. Rebecca De Mornay radiates innocence and beauty, and plays Beauty charmingly and touchingly, showing herself to be a quite decent singer too. John Savage shows very good chemistry with her, and is similarly very good as the Beast, giving off a scary but also tragically tormented figure and aided by good make-up.
While there is not a lot here actually that is wrong in Cannon Movie Tales' version of Beauty and the Beast, there are a couple of not-so-good areas. The two leads come off very well but the supporting roles are stockly written and overplayed, the siblings resort to quite embarrassing mugging and Beauty's father has rarely if ever been more unsympathetically portrayed. While Savage really impresses as the Beast, he is rather wooden as the Prince, which is not entirely his fault actually because Beast has always been a juicier and more interesting character which gives more scope to do much with the role. The writing does avoid being too cheesy and cloying and it is decent writing for a Cannon Movie Tale film, but can get a bit stiff in places especially in the early parts before Beast appears and when Beauty and the Beast are not on screen together.
All in all, there are some really beautiful things here, and of the Cannon Movie Tale films their version of Beauty and the Beast is one of their best. 8/10 Bethany Cox
