MovieChat Forums > La Belle et la Bête (1947) Discussion > missing piece?

missing piece?

posted 19 years ago by thatcat1960-1
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There is one scene which seems to fade too abruptly. It is when the Beast has just taken a drink from Belle's hands and she tells him that she would never wish him any harm. He responds, "But you dream of being far away from me." She looks away, and it seems as if she is about to say something, but the cut comes suddenly. Was there something there originally that was lost over time? Perhaps, someone who was lucky enough to see the film when it was new would be able to tell me.

[–] dance_passion83 19 years ago

Though I am too young to have seen it when it was new, I do have a theory. In the documentary on the restoration of the film, it was revealed that there was often frames that became missing with the passage of time. In order to "fill in" these places, they sometimes held over the previous shot to make the movie appear more smooth. Since this happened at the end of the scene, there may have been a gap afterward in the original nitrate film. And so, they may have decided to simply go into the next scene.

[–] thatcat1960-1 19 years ago

Yes, that makes perfect sense. Thanks! Now, if you could only answer my other question posted about the horse...:)