Beauty and the Beast (French: La Belle et la Bête) is a classic French romantic fantasy film adaptation of Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont's fairy tale. Directed by French poet/filmmaker Jean Cocteau, the film stars Josette Day as Belle and Jean Marais as both Avenant and The Beast. Widely considered one of the finest fantasy films of all time, it inspired Disney's popular 1991 animated film Beauty and the Beast (which incorporates the Avenant subplot into the film's villain, Gaston). The plot of Cocteau's film revolves around Belle's father who is sentenced to death for picking a rose from Beast's garden. Belle offers to go back to the Beast in her father's place. Beast falls in love with her and proposes marriage on a nightly basis which she refuses. Belle eventually becomes more drawn to Beast, who tests her by letting her return home to her family telling her that if she doesn't return to him within a week, he will die of grief. The film and poster art are currently in the public domain.